Moving the Goalposts
by Kingyama
Summary: When the Generation of Miracles' basketball teams move into a huge mansion and live on different floors, what kinda drama will brew? Will Aomine and Kagami's dwindling relationship suffer? Will Kuroko finally convince Momoi that he's gay? Will Murasakibara finally stop eating sweets? First story of my new series: Moving the Goalposts. Rated M for certain chapters.
1. Genesis

**DISCLAIMER** :: I do not own KNB or it's characters. However, I do own this story. Please do not redistribute without permission.

 ** _Moving the Goalposts_** ;; The act of redefining the conditions for victory or completion of a task; either when the original conditions for achieving them were met or whilst the person or group is busy working to achieve current conditioners, in order to prevent them from succeeding. Usually done with malice by a superior or peer looking to exclude or remove people from a group or portraying them as incompetent of not completing the task they keep altering.

Chapter I: Genesis

* * *

It was too early. Way too damn early for Aomine to be woken up like this from his sleep. He heard a loud bang outside his bedroom door and groaned. Rubbing a sore hand through his short blue hair, he cursed at whoever was making the noise. He slightly sat up in his bed and glared at the door; maybe whoever it was on the other side would see through the wood and cower away in fear. But it was to no avail, the noise only continued, and Aomine swore that the person would die. He got up and stomped his way to his door, opening it swiftly and screaming into the open hallway.

"I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T SHUT TH-" he was abruptly stopped by a finger to his mouth, a small, petite, creamy white finger. His eyes glanced down and he saw Momoi smiling happily back up at him.

"Sorry to wake you Dai-chan! I was just fighting with Tetsu. He's being a meany-butt again." She pouted and stuck her plump pink lips out. Aomine could only blink before the realization of what he stepped outside of his room was for.

"Could you please take it outside it's like 6 in the morning. And what is Tetsu doing on our floor anyways?" Aomine asked curiously, looking down the hall to see Kuroko standing there with his usual blank expression.

"Hello Aomine-kun." Kuroko said in a monotone voice. He was wearing his usual blue dog pajamas and his bed head was so hilariously funny that Momoi glared at him from her position. Obviously Kuroko wasn't as worked up as she was about whatever they were arguing about. Aomine looked back at Momoi, his brows furrowing slightly.

"I will say this _again_ , what is Tetsu doing on our floor?"

Momoi sighed and removed her finger from in front of his mouth, and then looked at Kuroko and then down to the ground.

"Well.. I invited him here because I wanted to ask him out on a date later today and I was so excited that I couldn't wait and I texted him this early. But then he kept saying no because he's gay and didn't want to lead me on. So I told him to come up here and say it to my face instead of text and that's why we were arguing and then you woke up." Momoi spoke softly and stared at the ground like she was getting in trouble from her parents.

Aomine slightly leaned his head to the side. Kuroko usually obeyed the rules of the mansion and wasn't seen on any other floor that wasn't his during restricted hours, so what Momoi had said sparked his interest. The fact that Kuroko was gay didn't even bother him-it wasn't like he didn't already know-he only cared about why Kuroko had wasted all his time to disobey the rules, restate something he had already said, and take the elevator to come up here. So much time was wasted that it made Aomine snort.

"Well, now that that's over can you please go back to sleep Momoi and Kuroko can you please leave?" Aomine spoke harshly before he walked back into his room, slamming his door and not waiting for a response. He sighed again, looking at the contents of his room and plopping back down in bed.

"Why can't I ever get any peace in this damn place?" He asked out loud, rolling over and staring at the ceiling.

Aomine knew that he would regret everything in the future when he had agree'd to live in the mansion with everybody else long ago. It was called "Z" and was a huge mansion in Tokyo, owned by some famous guy that Aomine couldn't care less about. Surprisingly, each floor of the mansion housed a high schools basketball club. The first floor was Kuroko and his team, they had offered to take it because Kagami stated how tired he would be if he had to carry dozens of burgers up flights of stairs every night. Above them was Kise, who didn't really care where he got placed as long as he had a nice view from his window and was able to get downstairs in time for breakfast. The third floor was Midorima, and he had no objections to his placement. The fourth floor belong to Aomine. He shared it with Momoi and the rest of his team. Although sometimes Midorima would get pissed because Momoi would make too much noise and basically stomp on the floor, causing Midorima to think there was an earthquake. The fifth floor housed Murasakibara. He had no objections since all of the vending machines were placed on the fifth floor. Finally the top floor was Akashi's, who loved to act like he was the king of everything. Aomine remembered something about Akashi knowing the guy that owned Z but couldn't remember any other details.

When Momoi told Aomine about Z and asked him to move in with the rest of the team, he objected profusely. Stating how he would get annoyed with roommates constantly running around and making noise when he would try to sleep. Momoi convinced him that the place was big enough that no one would bother him; although she had proved herself wrong this morning. Aomine was pulled out of his flashback as he heard his phone vibrate. He picked it up and checked the screen, noticing that it was a message from Kagami.

 **Kaga-butt** : " _Hey. Do you want to talk about last night?_ "

It read, and Aomine couldn't help but smile at the name he had given Kagami in his contacts

" _What's there to talk about? It was great._ " Aomine texted and thought about adding an extra heart at the end of the sentence but didn't want to seem too affectionate. He hit the send button and threw his phone across the room, rolling back up inside his covers and falling back asleep.

* * *

 **Aomi-babe** : " _What's there to talk about? It was great._ " Kagami chuckled softly and put his phone back down on the nightstand.

"I meant about our relationship.. Baka.." Kagami whispered to himself, turning over in his bed and trying to get comfortable again. When he closed his eyes thoughts about last night popped into his head and he unknowingly blushed, remembering how Aomine had called him up to the 4th floor because he wanted to talk. Kagami knew it was a lie but decided to visit him anyway, his curiosity getting the best of him.

 _"A-Aomine.." Kagami choked out, feeling Aomine's hands rub up his side._

 _"Hm?" Aomine smirked, and Kagami felt heat build in his lower region._

 _"Do you want me to stop?" Aomine asked and brought his face closer to Kagami, licking his neck. Somehow he knew Kagami's sweet spot and Kagami let out a sound that was a mix between a squeak and a moan. He felt desperate in Aomine's hands and squirmed at how slow Aomine was progressing things. He loved that about him, but hated it at the same time. Suddenly Kagami felt a foreign hand in his pants and stared at Aomine with huge eyes. Aomine's face turned from a sweet smile to a smirk, and Kagami thought that he would melt under Aomine's touch._

 _"Aomine please.." Kagami whimpered and licked Aomine's lips, begging for more. Aomine obliged and forcefully kissed Kagami, sticking his tongue so far down Kagami's throat that he thought he might choke._

 _He was slowly losing his composure to lust and became thoughtless in Aomine's hands. He groaned as Aomine slowly pumped him and tried to sloppily remove his shirt. Once they were both undressed, Aomine shadowed his body over Kagami, evidence of his dominance written all over his face._

Kagami suddenly jumped up quickly in his bed, the events still fresh in his mind. He glanced at his clock and saw that it was 9 in the morning. The sun from outside had seeped through the blinds and filled the room with horizontal beams of light. Kagami looked at his phone and realized that he never texted Aomine back. He was kind of disappointed when he saw that Aomine didn't send multiple text messages like he used to. Whenever Kagami didn't reply, Aomine got scared and would send message after message. It showed Kagami that he cared deeply. But lately, he had been anything but that; only talking to Kagami when he wanted sex or something of that sort.

" _We need to talk about our relationship._ " He smashed the buttons quickly and hit send, throwing his covers off of him and stretching. His room lit up from the light and sparkled under its reddish glow. Kagami's room was boring as usual, only a few magazines and a basketball lay in the corner. Next to those were some 20 lb Dumbbells and workout gloves. Anyone that walked into his room could tell that he only did four things in his life. Eat, sleep, play basketball and workout. Anything other then that and Kagami was screwed. Because that's all he ever did.

Fortunately for him, when he met Aomine, his life had changed. Although Aomine seemed intimidating and rude, Kagami pushed until he got to know him better, and they started dating. The way that Aomine would stand up for his friends, the way he would allow Momoi to accompany him wherever he went just to be nice, the way he would ferociously play basketball and the next minute be calm as ever. It made Kagami's heart melt, and he aspired to be like him, to be _with_ him. Aomine accepted him, flaws and all, and Kagami constantly went to him for protection.

One night they got surprisingly close, _too_ close, and ended up having sex for the first time. It was the first time Kagami did it with a guy, hell it was the first time Kagami did it at all, but to him it felt magical. He didn't bother to ask Aomine afterwards if it was his first time, because he had a hunch that it wasn't. And Aomine didn't bother to ask Kagami if it was his first time, because he had a hunch that it was. They didn't pry into each other's pasts, they didn't care about the who, what, when, where, why and how's of past relationships. It didn't bother them, because they were in the now, and they respected each other's privacy.

But, the honeymoon phase didn't last. The privacy that they both respected so dearly, might have been the downfall for them. For Aomine was distant. Never talked about his family, never cared about introducing Kagami to his family, never came to Kagami when he needed emotional support. Kagami tried to press on like he did in the beginning, but it was to no avail. So he did the next logical thing he could thing of, and just waited. Waited until Aomine ran to him, waited until he curled up in his arms and cried until he soul burst. Last night was one of those nights, where Aomine held so much emotion inside that he had to release it, and the only way he knew how was with Kagami.

Sadly, their relationship turned from being caring boyfriends to distant sex partners. And Kagami finally had enough.

Kagami stared at himself in his mirror until his phone dragged him out of his thoughts with a buzz and a flash. Anxiously, he dashed over to it and read a text message from someone he wasn't expecting.

 **Kuroko** 彡: " _Good morning Kagami-kun. I hope you had a good nights sleep. Will I be able to look forward to lunch at Maji burger with you today?_ "

Kagami tilted his head to the side and replied slowly, trying to figure out what to say.

" _Thanks, and yes I did. Sure, we can go to Maji burger. I live like right next door though so I don't understand why you couldn't have just walked over here._ " Kagami said the words out loud as he typed them-a bad habit of his-and was surprised when a monotone voice spoke from behind him.

"But I am here." The voice said, and Kagami almost choked on his own spit until he realized that it was just Kuroko, Kuroko and his unnoticeable appearance. When Kagami finally caught his breath, he noticed how cute Kuroko looked in his blue dog pajamas and bed hair.

"It's been a while since I've felt that." Kagami laughed, rubbing the back of his head. He had no idea if he was talking about how Kuroko surprised him, or if he was talking about the warmth he felt in his heart from looking at him. Kuroko blinked a few times and smiled, his face lighting up from its sleepy stages.

"Maji burger it is then?" Kuroko asked, stifling back a yawn that had dared to surface itself. Kagami nodded and looked at the clock. He decided to send another text to Aomine to set up a time for them to talk. Unbeknownst to him, when he took out his phone to text Aomine, Kuroko's face went sour. His whole expression changed and he looked like he was in his darkest state of mind.

Kagami just continued obliviously and texted Aomine to meet him in front of the park at 3. When Kagami looked up from his phone again, Kuroko was gone. Kagami blinked a couple of times to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, and when he realized he wasn't, he just sighed.

"That damn Kuroko."

* * *

 **AN** ::

HI HELLO HOW YOU DOING. I've been sitting down for hours trying to figure out what plot I want for this story and I finally have. I FINALLY HAVE IT PLANNED OUT hehe. If you got this far and wasn't bored out of your mind, thank you! This is my first KNB fanfic and I hope it turns out well, considering how many hours I slaved over coming up with a good plot. can you guys see some conflict forming already? -nudge nudge- -hint- -hint- -wink- Anywhosies, thank you so much for reading and if you liked it give it a big fat fave or follow it or even review because you wanna tell me about how stupid I am for not noticing a typo. CHOW(^｡^)

-Cryle


	2. Foreshock

**DISCLAIMER** :: I do not own KNB or it's characters. However, I do own this story. Please do not redistribute without permission.

Chapter II: Foreshock

* * *

Aomine hopped out of the shower, his bones felt refreshed and his dark skin glistened. His muscles twitched at the sudden contact with cold air and he shook his head, his blue mop of hair swayed raggedly. He then wrapped a towel around his waist, walking slowly from one side of the huge bathroom to the other. The wall was aligned with multiple mirrors and sinks. He stared at himself long and hard, the moisture in the air stuck to the mirror and made him stare longer. He didn't know why, or how, but he was suddenly overcome with sadness. He knew that Kagami wanted to talk about how he'd been acting lately. About how he only talked to him if he wanted sex, and how he never bothered to advance their relationship by introducing Kagami to his family, and how he never bothered to do the cute boyfriend stuff they used to do together. He knew his relationship was on the line, he knew that his relationship has become jaded. He knew, but he couldn't tell him. He just couldn't. It wasn't the right time yet. When he read Kagami's text messages earlier, he had the urge to storm downstairs and go see him right then and there. He was disgusted with himself, disgusted that he had turned into a sex machine, disgusted that he couldn't even go to Kagami for emotional support. His blue eyes darkened the longer he looked at himself, and he lowered his head apologetically.

Fighting the urge to cry and punch the mirror at the same time, Aomine left the bathroom and walked out into the hallway. Although each player had individual rooms in the mansion, all the bathrooms were located down the hall, and all the showers were bunched up next to it. He woke up from his nap after confronting Momoi and saw Kagami's texts. It was now almost 12 and Aomine had nothing to do. He wanted to go see Kagami but he knew that doing so would just complicate things even more, so he decided to wait until they were suppose to meet up.

"Hey Aomine!" A soft voice was heard from behind Aomine and he turned around to see Sakurai, his eyes held a lot of light and he seemed as cheerful as ever.

"Oh hey. What's got you in a good mood all of a sudden?" Aomine asked, putting a hand behind his neck and scratching.

"I'm sorry! I'm just really happy because Maji burger came out with this new menu item and I wanted to try it! But no one on the team wants to go with me. Imayoshi just wants to sit and read." He stuck his lip out a little which made Aomine crack a slight smile. His pouting face was always hilarious.

"Do you know how unhealthy that junk is?" Aomine said in a serious tone after he had finished laughing. Sakurai's pouting face stopped abruptly and he bowed over and over, his hair bouncing up and down.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry! I just really want to go! I want to see what kind of stuff is in it and then turn it into my own recipe! Can we go please Aomine?" Sakurai asked quickly, afraid that Aomine would slap him across the head. He braced himself, knowing how violent Aomine is towards Wakamatsu. He waited and waited, but felt no ounce of pain on his skull. So he looked up and saw Aomine smiling softly down at him.

"Yeah. But only if no one can go with you." Aomine said, putting his hand on Sakurai's light brown hair and rubbing it softly. Sakurai suddenly smiled happily and closed his eyes.

"Thank you! Let's go right now! I'll get ready and then come by your room!" He said appreciatively, nodding for his leave. He then sprinted down the hallway and into his own room. Aomine chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head softly.

"That silly kid." He thought as he headed back to his room. He shut the door and stared at his phone sitting on his bed. He wanted to check it to see if Kagami had sent him anything else, but he also didn't want to think about Kagami right now. He just wanted to get dressed and hang out with his friend. Aomine stared blankly at the phone and finally sighed, walking over to the bed and picking it up.

"So much for willpower." He thought as he unlocked the screen and finally replied to Kagami's messages.

" _Ok. See you at 3._ " Was all he could type, and he pressed the send button with another sigh. Deciding that it was finally time to get dressed, Aomine walked into his closet and pulled out a regular black shirt and some jeans. He stared at his basketball shoes that lay neatly in their box in the corner. A sticky note with a heart and a small "thanks" was laying on the box. Aomine remembered how he had let Kagami borrow them for his game against Kise in the Winter Cup. It was the first time that they had hugged. It was right before Aomine messaged Kagami and asked him out. Aomine remembered how Kagami kept trying to hang out with him and get closer to him. No matter how hard he had tried, he knew he could never stay Kagami's rival. Aomine bent down and rubbed his thumb over the sticky note, a flashback of that evening surfaced in his mind.

 _"Thank you Aomine. For the shoes I mean." Kagami smiled sheepishly, a smile hint of blush forming on the apples of his cheeks._

 _"Yeah.." Was all Aomine could say. His heart was beating ridiculously fast and he didn't know why. Whenever he stared at Kagami his heart would race. The sky was turning orange and the sun was setting, casting a small shadow over Kagami's face. Aomine was suddenly overcome with the urge to touch him. Just to touch his skin and feel it's warmth. But he resisted that urge and just looked at Kagami, words failing to make their way to his throat._

 _"Aomine..." Kagami said, setting down the box and moving closer to him. Aomine froze, the distance between them was shrinking and he wanted to desperately move backwards and increase that distance. His legs wouldn't cooperate with him. His mind was screaming but his body was calm. He was suddenly eye to eye with Kagami and his voice stuck in his throat. Nobody had ever made his body react like this. No one could ever make Aomine freeze up like this. No one could ever make Aomine's heart beat rapidly and pupils dilate. Kagami took his hands and wrapped them around Aomine's neck, his mouth inches away from his ear as he whispered something, his body pressed up against Aomine's._

 _"Thank you." He whispered, holding onto Aomine like his life depended on it. Aomine's eye got wide and he had no idea what to do. He just stood there dumbfounded. His rival, scratch that, his friend had just hugged him and thanked him over some shoes. Aomine finally reacted and wrapped his arms around Kagami's waist, bringing their body's even closer, removing any distance that lay between them._

 _"Aomine." Kagami said again, licking the base of Aomine's neck. Aomine shivered from the warm and wet contact._

 _"Aomine!" Kagami said louder, and Aomine furrowed his brows, he twisted his head to look at Kagami, to see what was wrong._

"AOMINE!" Sakurai screamed from Aomine's bedroom door and Aomine jumped, almost falling over face first on the carpet. He quickly stood up from his position and glared at Sakurai, who cowardly shrunk in his position.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry! It's just time to go..." Sakurai said, his eyes beginning to get wet with tears. Aomine sighed and flicked his hand at Sakurai.

"Okay give me a minute." He said, as he looked for some regular tennis shoes and socks. Sakurai whispered his apologies again and walked away from the doorstep, waiting outside in the hall. Aomine quickly put his socks and shoes on and cursed at himself being caught off guard like that. Especially when he was thinking about Kagami.

When he finally got dressed, he stared at the box and ripped the sticky note off, crumbling it up in his hands and throwing it into his small trash can. He then picked up the box and stuffed it under his bed, hoping, praying that maybe he wouldn't be reminded of Kagami so easily anymore. He needed to get his mind off of him for a while. At least until 3. He picked up his phone and stuffed it into his pants pocket. Then with a flick and a lock, he turned the lights off and locked his door, glancing at Sakurai in the hallway.

"Okay let's go." Aomine said as he started to walk away, and Sakurai happily smiled, jogging a little to catch up with him.

* * *

The air was icy with a hint of violent breeze and Kagami cursed under his breath. He pulled his hoodie closer around his ears and looked down at Kuroko, who was bundled up in 3 layers of clothes, 2 scarves and a hoodie. The winters were always harsh in Japan and Kagami-despite many warnings from Aomine-never got used to the cold. In America the winters weren't nearly as harsh. Well not where he lived anyways.

"I didn't know it would be this cold today. The sun made it seem like it would be a little warmer than this." Kagami said as he glanced up at the sky, the sun shone brightly down at them and contradicted the coldness with its beams of light. Kagami chuckled softly at how weird the weather was today, and looked down at Kuroko to see what his response was.

"The Sun's gone dim... And the Sky's gone black." Kuroko said softly, almost inaudibly. Kagami raised an eyebrow and stopped in his tracks.

"What? The sky isn't black." He stated, confused when Kuroko smiled and just kept walking. When he breathed, the air around him turned white and snipped at his red nose. Kagami shuttered violently.

"Hey wait up!" He yelled, running quickly to catch up to Kuroko.

When they finally got to Maji burger, Kagami let out a huge sigh of relief and stripped off his hood. He looked at Kuroko and laughed as he tried to remove his abundant layer of clothes. Kagami bent down to reach him and slowly plucked off Kuroko's gloves. Kuroko stared at him with wide eyes, his cheeks heating up intensely despite the cold that had just rested in them. Kagami then moved up to his neck and unwrapped his scarf, revealing Kuroko's small, pink lips that were slightly opened.

Kagami stood back up and glanced around, Maji burger was busier than usual. People lined the booths, talking and chatting about their ambitions and whatever else Kagami could grasp from dozens of conversations. A few long lines started from the cashiers and ended up trailing around the side of the restaurant and out the door. Kagami had never seen the place this busy and Kuroko didn't speak. His hands undid his zipper of his jacket and he folded up the rest of the clothes that Kagami has stripped off for him.

"Let's find a booth before they're all taken." Kuroko said, glancing up at Kagami who was still looking around dumbfounded. Kuroko grabbed Kagami's shirt to get his attention, and Kagami jerked his head downwards, almost forgetting who he was there with.

"R-right. Sorry." Kagami apologized and tried to look through the increasing crowd. He spotted a booth along the other side of the restaurant, and held out his hand to Kuroko. Kuroko glanced at it hesitantly.

"Come on! It's so you don't get lost. Do you see how many people are in here?" Kagami asked, as he waited for Kuroko. Kuroko looked a little surprised but then nodded quickly, placing his hand gently into Kagami's. Kagami tightened his grip on Kuroko's hand as he weaved through the crowd. Kuroko smiled slightly and closed his eyes, loving the feeling of Kagami's skin on his, even if it was only his hand.

Once they made their way to the booth, Kagami got up to go order the food, and Kuroko waited patiently for him to come back. He watched as the store was filled with people, ordering the same thing over and over. He guessed that there was a new item on the menu, but didn't care for it. He always wanted his vanilla milkshake, and that's all he ever wanted. But he knew that Kagami would make him eat at least one solid food on their outing. Eyeing the busy streets outside, Kuroko saw something that caught his attention. His breathing slowed down and he lowered his eyelids. Across the street from where he was looking was none other than Aomine. That bastard. Kuroko glared from the window, seeing that Aomine was with someone else. He couldn't make out who it was none did he care. Kuroko chuckled and took out his cellphone, unlocked the screen and positioned the camera right up on the window.

"Say cheese." He whispered as he captured the picture of Aomine and Sakurai together. He considered all of the possible uses of the picture, like how he could use it for blackmailing if need be. He smirked softly and quickly put his phone away as he saw Kagami come back.

"What's wrong Kuroko? Did you see something outside?" Kagami asked and was about to glance outside when Kuroko put his hands up, redirecting his attention to the tray of food.

"No! No. It's just really cold that's all. Let's eat I'm hungry." Kuroko said happily as Kagami handed him his vanilla milkshake.

"You need to eat some solid food too." Kagami stated, shoving the hamburger his way. Kuroko smiled gently and nodded.

"Yeah.. I know." He replied as he slowly unwrapped the burger and ate at a leisurely pace. Kagami also ate his steadily, savoring the delicious favors with each chew. Kuroko was consciously eyeing Aomine from outside the window as they got closer. He feared that they were coming to Maji burger but dismissed the thought since he knew that Aomine hated fast food. Excluding a Teriyaki burger of course, since Aomine would treat himself to one every now and then. It was his favorite food after all.

"So Kuroko, how are you and Momoi?" Kagami asked, trying to start a conversation. He moved on to his next burger. Although he was eating slowly, he took big chunks and finished the burgers quickly. Kuroko almost choked when he heard her name and denied his question.

"We're not dating. I keep telling everybody that. You already know I like guys." Kuroko said the last sentence sheepishly and sipped more of his milkshake. Kagami laughed and reached across the table to tap his shoulder.

"I know I know I'm just messing." He said, chuckling. Kagami looked down at his food and was suddenly reminded of Aomine when he realized what he had ordered. One teriyaki burger sat in a pile of cheeseburgers.

"Shit, your love life is probably still better than mine." Kagami whispered, taking another bite out of his burger.

"Huh?" Kuroko asked, not hearing what Kagami had to say.

"No. Nothing." Kagami laughed it off, gulping some of his soda. Kuroko just blinked and glanced out the window, seeing that Aomine and Sakurai were no where in sight. He panicked, cursing himself inwardly for losing track of them. He quickly glanced around the shop, trying to look like he was just watching the random people. Kuroko saw the mop of dark blue and a head with light brown hair and cursed.

"So they _are_ here." He thought as he tried to figure out a plan in his head quickly. He didn't want his date to be ruined by that dark skinned bastard. If Kagami saw him now, he would probably leave with him, and Kuroko wouldn't get to have his fun.

"Kagami can we leave. It's too loud in here.." Kuroko said, pleadingly. He wanted Kagami to agree with him and just leave as fast as they could. He didn't want Kagami to see Aomine. He prayed that he would just agree and leave.

Fortunately for Kuroko, he did.

"Yeah. I was thinking the same thing." Kagami said as he took the cheeseburgers and stuffed them into his bag. Kuroko smiled to himself and did the same with his burger. Kagami got up and stared heading for the entrance where Aomine was. Kuroko grabbed Kagami's shirt and spoke loudly.

"Wait! It's too crowded over there. Let's take the back entrance." Kuroko pleaded again and Kagami nodded, turning his back to Aomine and putting his hoodie back on. Kuroko started to put his clothes back on and glanced in Aomine's direction. Aomine was smiling with Sakurai and Kuroko smirked.

"You won't be smiling for long." He contemplated and grabbed his vanilla milkshake, following Kagami outside the back door.

The cold instantly made his bones ache and he snuggled deeper inside his layers of clothes. He could see Kagami laughing at him from the corner of his eyes.

"What." Kuroko blatantly asked, staring daggers at Kagami. It only made Kagami laugh harder as he pulled his hoodie over his head and tightened it.

"Nothing." Kagami said, and took a bite out of another burger.

"Do you wanna go to the mall? I have a lot of time to kill today. And it beats being outside." Kuroko asked, a big gust of wind flew by and it took the air out of Kuroko's lungs, and replaced it with icy wind. He coughed softly up and looked up at Kagami who nodded to the idea. They slowly made their way downtown to shop at various stores.

It was exactly 3, and Kagami was having so much fun that he barely paid attention to the time. He was laughing and trying on crazy clothes with Kuroko for over an hour. They stopped by various stores, browsing the athlete section and buying different items. Kuroko would sometimes get lost in Kagami's eyes and although Kagami would never admit it, he found Kuroko's mostly blank eyes to be calming. They went from store to store, trying in ridiculous clothes-crazy hats and heels-before they finally settled down and stopped at a bench to rest. It wasn't until Kagami glanced at a huge monitor that stuck to the side of a building that announced the weather with the current time that he freaked out, checking his phone and muttered curse words over and over. Kuroko was confused and Kagami apologized repeatedly, saying that he was sorry but he had to leave right then and there. Kuroko just nodded and stayed sitting, watching as Kagami ran down the street.

"Shit shit shit!" He screamed, running as fast as his legs would take him to the park in front of the mansion. He knew it wasn't Kuroko's fault, but he kind of regretted going to the mall with him. He started sprinting, realizing how mad Aomine would be if he was late. But then another thought crossed his mind, what if Aomine didn't show up at all? What if he was still laying in bed, being his lazy self. He pulled out his cellphone and saw the text message from Aomine earlier that morning.

 **Aomi-babe** : " _Ok. See you at 3._ "

Kagami read it and cursed even louder, running even faster than he thought he could run. His heart pumped furiously and his blood gushed through is veins. His back flapped and hit his hip with even movement of his leg. But he didn't care, he had to go to that park. If he was late, he feared never being able to repair their broken relationship.

* * *

Aomine waited patiently. It was currently 3:15, and due to the weather, he was freezing his ass off. He forgot to check the news and failed to bring a jacket. Sakurai kept making fun of him, teasing Aomine about how he would clatter his teeth when they were walking outside. He rubbed his aching arms and glancing up at the sky.

"The Sun's gone dim... And the Sky's gone black.." Aomine said softly to himself, trying to distract his body from the cold.

"Cause I loved him... And he _didn't_ love back." His voice cracked when he said the last sentence, and he gripped his arms even tighter, rubbing them and shivering.

"Damn it.. Kagami..." Aomine hissed and looked at the broken swing set. His heart felt just like the swing looked.

Broken, cold, and alone.

With one last look down the street and around the playground, Aomine decided that he wasn't coming, and slowly left the park.

* * *

 **AN** ::

OMG WTF TETSUYA YOU LITTLE BITCH. Omg how I could do this oh no. -repairs Aomine's broken heart with my love- that's right praise me. Do it. Lol I got so excited with this chapter that I couldn't wait to start writing it right after the first because I got great reviews and views and follows so thank you guys333. That means so much to me ahhhh I'm so excited lol. If you liked it give it a big fat fave and review it and tell me how your heart is broken cause mine is broken cause of this damn chapter. I might not be able to upload every chapter this fast, since I have AP test and finals next week so please bare with me. OKAU BYYYUWEE(^｡^)

-Cryle


	3. With You

**DISCLAIMER** :: I do not own KNB and it's characters. However, I do own this story. Please do not redistribute without permission.

Chapter III: With You

* * *

Kuroko awoke to a loud bang, and then a curse. He shifted slightly in his bed and turned over to check his phone. It was 10pm, and although he had just taken a nap after the date with Kagami, he still felt excessively tired.

Kagami...

Kuroko thought about his best friends sudden flee earlier that day after they went shopping and he grumbled to himself. When he left, Kuroko just sat there on the bench, bewildered at what Kagami could be so bewildered about.

"I wonder why he left.." Kuroko pouted and sat up. He ruffled his light blue hair as he stared into his mirror across the room. Kuroko's eyes held no expression and he was jolted out of his skin when he heard his phone vibrate. He looked over at it, hoping it was a message from Kagami explaining his sudden leave yesterday, but it was just a message from Murasakibara.

 **Murasakibara-kun:** " _I've got this new candy that's vanilla flavored. Wanna have some? I know you love Vanilla."_

Kuroko shuttered when he read the text. Lately, Mura had been all over him: wanting him to spend the night in his room, wanting him to go places with him, wanting him to eat his food with him. Mura never shared his food with anyone, so Kuroko was always on his guard around him. He had guessed that Mura had taken an interest in him. But, Kuroko always politely denied him, for he had already set his eyes on Kagami.

He shut his phone, deciding not to reply to Mura. He didn't want to keep leading him on. Kuroko suddenly heard the loud bang noise again, followed by a scream and a curse, and remembered why he had woken up in the first place.

Kuroko slowly made his way into the hallway, observing how no one was there, exploring where the sound was coming from like he was some sot of secret agent.

How in the world does no one else hear this? Kuroko turned his head and followed the noise to next door-Kagami's room. He heard another curse and knocked on the door, waiting quietly for his friend to answer. Kagami's voice lowered some and he opened the door, greeting Kuroko with a nod and letting him in. He was on the phone, his hair was a mess and he looked disoriented. Sweat was forming in beads on his forehead and his eyes were slanted, his eyebrows looking as if they were actually split into two.

"No. Ao-. Listen! Please! For fucks sake I was literally on my way!" Kagami's voice had risen again and his eyes got big, his teeth gritting against each other and Kuroko just stood there, patiently.

"I'm sorry I didn't text you. YEAH I KNOW I WAS ON MY WAY. I GOT CAUGHT UP WITH KUROKO AND SHOPPING OK." Kagami screamed, almost kicking his basketball that was in the corner. The roughness of his voice made Kuroko uncomfortable and he switched the weight of his body on his other foot. He stared at the carpet. So that's why Kagami left so abruptly, he was going to see Aomine. Kuroko was slightly happy that he unintentionally did that, but at the same time he was upset to cause Kagami such distress. He could hear Aomine clearly through the phone, noticing how it made Kagami flinch every time the blunette raised his voice.

"OKAY FINE. IM COMING." Kagami slammed the phone down on his bed and stomped past Kuroko, not even speaking to him. But Kuroko wasn't an idiot, he knew what was going on. Kagami would go up to Aomine's room and they would probably fight for hours like usual. Kuroko sighed and stared at the wall across from him. It was painfully blank, just like his expression. Kagami left him for Aomine. Left him high and dry for some arrogant bastard who always takes advantage of him. Kuroko looked back at his phone and decided to text Murasakibara back. So much for not wanting to lead him on.

* * *

Kagami pressed the fourth floor button repeatedly and fumed through his nose. He was so ridiculously mad that he didn't want to confront Aomine because he knew that one slip up of his would cause them to have sex again. It always does. He paced back and forth in the elevator. Should he apologize? Should he get even more upset? Should he just turn back now? He swiped a hand through his red hair as the elevator door opened with a bing. Kagami left the elevator and turned the corner, every step he took made him want to return to his room.

He knocked on the door forcefully and Aomine tugged at the handle. As soon as he opened it, Kagami stepped inside and looked at him face to face, their chests mere centimeters away from each other. It didn't help that Aomine wasn't wearing a shirt, either. Aomine kicked the door closed with his foot and glared at Kagami. He had a feeling that they were gonna have angry sex as soon as he looked into Kagami's eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you, and I'm sorry I made you wait." Kagami said gravely, his eyes not wavering. Aomine smirked and pushed him against the wall, next to his door. Kagami gasped loudly as Aomine tackled his lips, kissing him with a forcefulness that he hadn't felt in a long time. The red head softly pushed on Aomine's chest and his fingers brushed up against one of Aomine's nipples, causing the blunette to smirk.

"W-wait Aomine. I still wanna talk." Kagami said between pants, but Aomine ignored him and softly bit the sweet spot on his neck, making Kagami gasp out and brace himself against the wall.

"Later.." Aomine purred and licked Kagami's neck some more, earning himself a few gasps. He slowly removed Kagami's shirt-revealing some well trained abs-and stared at his red eyes. There was something about his eyes that made him want to devour Kagami. Maybe it was his fierceness, or maybe it was the sharp comparison in color from his hair. He snapped out of his trance and scowled slowly, remembering how Kagami stood him up earlier that day.

"You made me wait, you ass. It was freezing! And if you were on your way, why wouldn't you just call me.." Aomine bit his inner lip, usually he wouldn't let something like this get him so worked up. He hid his emotions so well that something so small wouldn't have bothered him.

"I wasn't thinking... I was scared that you would be upset. But then when I arrived, you weren't there." Kagami whispered, bringing his boyfriend closer to him by wrapping his arms around Aomine's neck. Kagami's breath was ragged as he leaned in closer to kiss Aomine, lips slightly parted and eyes hazed with lust; but he quickly pulled away, letting a low growl escaped his chest. He was so close to slipping up.

"We can't have sex right now." Kagami say disappointingly, much to Aomine's growing frustration. He was fighting an inner battle, and his erection. He wanted to have Aomine fuck his brains out, but at the same time wanting to solve the issue they had been dealing with for so long.

"Why?!" Aomine growled, his pupils dilating from the sudden loss of contact when Kagami pushed him away.

"Because then we'll just have angry sex and you'll let out your emotional build up on me and then I'll ask you what's wrong and you won't tell me and then I'll get mad at you because you never talk to me or come to me for emotional help and I'll storm off and the cycle will repeat." Kagami said, running out of breath. His grip on Aomine's neck tightened and his eyes were lowered to the ground. As much as he wanted Aomine at this moment, he had to resolve the issue before it destroyed them both.

Aomine was about to open his lips and interject, but Kagami broke him off. There was a lot of words that he still wanted to say.

"Let's just talk please. Without actually acting like animals in heat?" Kagami chuckled when he finished the end of his sentence, scratching the short hairs on the back of Aomine's neck. Aomine stared at him for a while, and then finally agreed, grabbing one of Kagami's hands and dragging him on to his bed.

Kagami had to admit that Aomine's bed was soothingly comfortable and that when he laid down he didn't want to get back up ever again. The coldness of the sheets seeped through his muscled chest and he took a deep breath.

"I can see why it takes you forever to get out of bed." Kagami sighed in relief as he stretched his legs out. The darker skinned male plastered a small smile on his face, gently laying down next to Kagami, his back on the mattress and his head to the ceiling. The red head whimpered softly at the lack of contact and scooted closer to his boyfriend, tangling their legs and resting his head on the blunette's bare chest. To any stranger, this would seem like an awkward position for the young male who had the body of a man in his late twenties, but Kagami enjoyed cuddling up next to Aomine. Firstly because Aomine never budged. He never moved or squirmed uncomfortably, so Kagami never felt like a burden. And secondly, well, because he just liked the feeling. He liked it when Aomine ran his fingers through his red hair and kissed the top of his forehead.

It had been a long time since they'd been in this position, and Kagami missed it dearly.

"Tell me why you've been distant with me." Kagami demanded, but in a pleading way. He took his index finger and traced circles around one of Aomine's abs, waiting for him to reply. He knew that Aomine wasn't the kind of person to share such feelings, so he would wait until his boyfriend was ready.

"Well..." Aomine started, trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say, "remember when you flew back to America to go visit Alex a couple weeks ago?" He paused, not wanting to give too much information at one time. He twisted his head to look down at Kagami, and his heart started to pound ridiculously fast when he saw the look on Kagami's face.

"Y-you didn't cheat on me did you?!" Kagami's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly gaped, he started jumping to random conclusions already. Aomine jerked his body to face Kagami, and his lover's head fell off his chest and against the bed.

"No! Of course not!" Aomine replied shockingly. He would never do something like that to Kagami. Ok sure he was sometimes flirty with girls he would see on the street, but he would never ever be disloyal and cheat on someone he cared for so deeply. He had values ok.

"Oh. Sorry babe. Continue." Kagami grabbed hold on Aomine's hand, rubbing his calloused palm with his own. Aomine's heart was still beating excessively fast from the look that was on his boyfriends face earlier. It looked like pure defeat.

It looked like pure heartbreak.

Aomine coughed to clear his throat and stared at his lover in the eyes. Even though he didn't want to say it, he knew he had to or else he would risk losing his boyfriend.

"Well, when you were gone, Kise invited me to one of his modeling shoots.. It was fun watching him in action. But anyways that's not the point..." Aomine trailed off, this time he avoided looking into Kagami's eyes, for fear of what he might see in them. Kagami didn't reply, he just watched, willingly, waiting for Aomine to say _something_. And so when the blunette didn't hear a response, he continued again.

"One of his managers came up to me and asked if I was interested. I declined at first, but then Kise said I was a natural so I thought 'ok why not'. We did a couple photos.. And they said they want me to fly out to London for an interview and a possible job there." Aomine sped up his speed of speech, closing his eyes as if readying himself to receive a hit from Kagami. But he never did, and when he opened his eyes he saw Kagami just looking at him with a small smile on his face. Was he, happy? How could he be happy hearing that his boyfriend might have to _live_ in London?

"When?" Kagami asked, still staring into Aomine's eyes. He didn't flinch, budge, blink or breathe. He just stared, as if he had frozen and everything around him was moving too fast.

"A little under a month." Aomine replied, avoiding Kagami's eye contact.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner."

"I figured that I could just blow it off and not go. You're more important to me."

"Well we could of talked about it. I thought it was something huge. It's not like you have to live there right? It's just an interview.. I just wish you would've told me sooner."

"I was just so afraid of losing you Taiga.." Their responses were said at a normal pace until Aomine spoke Kagami's name, softly, delicately, as if saying it too harshly would cause him to break. Kagami closed his eyes and smiled deeper, his bangs falling in his face.

"You haven't called me that in a long time.." He spoke, resting his head on Aomine's pillow. Aomine didn't speak, he didn't know what to say. He was shocked-mostly-and baffled as to how Kagami was so relaxed upon hearing this information.

"Now was that so bad?" Kagami finally opened his eyes, and they were filled with warmth and life. Aomine chuckled to himself, lightly thumping his boyfriend on his forehead.

"Go home loser." He teased, sitting up in his bed. He didn't realize that it would be that easy. Kagami snickered and wrapped his arms around Aomine's shoulders, kissing him on the neck.

"Do you really want me to?" He said between kisses, rubbing his chest up against Aomine's back. Aomine shuttered, he was making it _very_ difficult for him to say yes.

"Mhm." Was his only reply as he bit his lip to suppress a moan. Kagami whined, pulling away and staring Aomine in the eyes. Aomine just stared back, he wasn't going to crack under the pressure.

"Fine." Kagami sighed, pulling away from his boyfriend and getting off the bed. He scanned the floor for his shirt and picked it up, putting it back on. Kagami turned to the blunette, a serious look plastered on his face.

"I love you Daiki, and I'll always support whatever you want to do."

* * *

Kuroko rolled the marble between his fingers, staring at its complex variety or colors and awkward shapes that lay inside. He contemplated what to do with Aomine. He thought, roughly, about plans and situations that would most likely happen. He thought about backup plans too, and what were to happen if things didn't go his way. He always had a scheme.

"Kuro-chin." Murasakibara called out, and Kuroko kept staring at the marble with a blank expression. He didn't know why, but he had ended up in Murasakibara's room instantly after Kagami left him, _again_ , for Aomine. He clearly wasn't in his right state of mind, because everything he saw reminded him of Kagami. And when thoughts of Kagami flew in, thoughts of Kagami's _boyfriend_ did too, and it sickened him. It sickened him to the core.

Murasakibara handed Kuroko a piece of vanilla flavored candy in his other hand, eyeing him suspiciously with slow movements.

"Kuro-chin is upset?" Mura asked, popping a piece of candy into his mouth and then opening a bag of chips. Kuroko shook his head, he couldn't involve other people into his schemes; they would just screw it up. Besides, if he wanted to honestly win over Kagami's heart, he would have to do it himself. When you need things done, you do it yourself right?

"Then why are you so quiet?" The purple haired male asked once again, popping another piece of candy into his mouth. Kuroko wondered how Murasakibara could eat candy all day, everyday. Surely he would get sick, wouldn't he? He finally looked away from the marble and back up to his friend.

"Just thinking." Kuroko replied, slipping the small candy into his mouth. He had to admit it was quite good, the smoothness of the vanilla, the tanginess of the inside. He savored the flavor, Kuroko was a sucker for textures in candy.

"Did you know that Kise-chin and Aka-chin are having a party? Aka-chin said I can be in charge of the food if I tell people about it." Mura said, less excitedly than he should be. He never cared for parties or events, but since there was going to be foreign snacks and food, he decided to give it a try.

"...I'm pretty sure they meant people _not_ living here." Kuroko chuckled at Mura's lack of determination.

"Who else should I tell?"

"Akashi-kun has plenty of friends, I'm sure all of corners of Tokyo will show up." Kuroko replied, reaching inside the bag of vanilla candy and helping himself to some more.

"Kise-chin said his managers and other important people will come." The purple haired male said through mouthfuls of chips.

"Kise's modeling company? Interesting." Kuroko pondered on the situation and sat up quickly, remembering a fact that he had forgotten a while ago. His eyes lit up and before Mura could comment on his sudden change in attitude, Kuroko stood up and walked quickly to the door.

"Sorry I got to go! Thanks so much for the candy Murasakibara-kun!" Kuroko apologized and rushed out the door, basically sprinting down the hallway and into the elevator. He mashed the #4 button, and the elevator dinged closed and started to descend.

He was going to get Aomine to follow his modeling career with Kise, in _London_.

* * *

"Aomine." Kuroko knocked repeatedly on Aomine's door, the sound resonating down the hall. With a loud grunt and a swing of the door, Kuroko faced Aomine, who was covered in sleep and bed head. The blunette's eyes were glazed with tiredness and he spoke to Kuroko in a hoarse, deep voice.

"Oh Tetsuya.. What's up?" Aomine asked, still drenched in sleep. Kuroko shuttered every time he heard Aomine call him by his name. He admitted that when they were in high school, he was rather close to Aomine. He cared for him like a brother and cherished their close relationship. However, when Aomine and Kagami started to get close, Kuroko got increasingly jealous, to the point where he would curse under his breath if he even heard Aomine's name. Now, he stood there facing the sleepy giant, pondering how he should try to get him to go to London.

"May I come in? It's rather chilly in the hallway." Kuroko asked and Aomine gave a slight nod, followed by a yawn as he moved to the side, allowing Kuroko to walk in. He slowly closed the door. Kuroko looked around Aomine's room, it was different from the last time he saw it.

It was actually clean.

There were no pile of clothes in the corner, no messy plastic plates sitting around the tv and no dirty cups next to his bed. Had Kagami got him to clean his room? Kuroko clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth, how _typical_.

"So Tetsuya. Why are you here so late? Isn't the elevator locked?" Aomine asked him, turning towards his closet to put a shirt on. Kuroko smiled at his politeness, sometimes Aomine showed good mannerism.

"No. Akashi-Kun changed the time to 12am. It's only 11pm. I just wanted to talk. How's your job going?" Kuroko decided to take it upon himself and sit on Aomine's messy bed; the sheets were astray and his blanket lay on the floor.

"It's not going. Haha.." Aomine chuckled off to himself, not able to finish his sentence.

"You quit? Why?" Kuroko already knew the answer to his question, but he wanted to seem oblivious to everything going on in Aomine's life-even if it was a major lie.

Aomine closed his closet door and took a seat next to Kuroko on his bed. He looked at his hands and started to fiddle with his thumbs. Kuroko wondered why he was acting so nervous.

"I might get a job in London... As a model with Kise. I have an interview soon, so I have to fly out there." The blunette's voice cracked as he spoke, and Kuroko could tell that it was tough on him, but he didn't really care.

"Wow Aomine.. That's really great! You'd make a good model, you know. I'm pretty sure everyone in London will be all over you." Kuroko stated happily-but not too cheery-he didn't want to over exaggerate. Aomine smiled slightly at Kuroko's statement and rubbed his hair. Kuroko inwardly flinched, he _hated_ it when anyone other than Kagami touched his hair.

"Thanks Tetsuya. But, I can't just leave.. I can't leave Kagami. He means the world to me.."

" _He means the world to me too._ " Kuroko thought, and shifted his focus from the floor to Aomine. He looked like he was suffering, like he was stuck between a wall and a rock.

"But if Kagami supports your decision, then I think you should go. It would be such a great opportunity to see the world, and to _live_ in London. I'd be so jealous." Kuroko laughed and tried to playfully punch Aomine's arm. Oops, was that a little too much? Aomine didn't react, instead he just stared at the carpet with sadness in his eyes.

"Yeah.. Bu-" suddenly, the air rang slightly, and a buzzing sound was heard throughout Aomine's room. Kuroko looked up to the corner of the wall where the sound was coming from. A small speaker was glue to the top corner and it spoke was an annoying, screeching sound.

"Hello everyone! ITS KISE! Akashicchi and I are hosting a party tomorrow night and we need everyone to come down to the lounge _**right now**_. Everyone! Even if you're asleep I hope my beautiful voice wakes you up! If you're not here then Akashicchi will have a word with you... alone. OKAY SEE YOU IN 10 MINUTES!" Kise sung loudly, and clicked off the monitor. Aomine chuckled and ruffled his hands through his hair.

"Well. Unless we want Akashi to threaten to kick us out of Z, I guess we should go." Aomine stood up and made his way to the door, opening it and waiting for Kuroko to follow. He stood up off the bed, nodding and quickly following Aomine towards the hallway. As he and Aomine made their way to the lounge, Kuroko thought about the annoying speaker system that Akashi had place in _every_ room in the mansion. It came in handy for times like these, where they wanted _everyone_ to hear something at the same time. As soon as the elevator opened on the main floor, Kuroko highly regretted showing up. Everyone from all the floors were compacted into one large area and the sound of everyone groaning and shuffling their feet was excruciating. If that wasn't enough, the sights weren't appealing either.

Usually, the lounge was glittered with pretentious sparkles and a glowing marble floor that matched the draping curtains that milked the walls. But this time, the marble floor was covered with hundred of feet in slippers and rows of night gowns. Kuroko saw people from Seirin and other guys from the other schools, but he didn't care. He was just looking for Kagami.

Across the room, Kuroko spotted Kise and Akashi standing on a small stage, they looked like they were waiting anxiously to say something. Kuroko just ignored them and scanned the crowd for a head of red. Aomine was doing exactly the same, trying to look for his boyfriend by standing on his tippy-toes and peering over heads. Before the guys could continue their search, a tapping of the microphone was heard throughout the lounge.

"Okay okay. Everyone settle down! Akashicchi and I have an announcement to make!" Kise brightly cut everyone off, making the lounge seem deadly quiet.

"We're hosting a party tomorrow. A lot of people are going to be here so I want everyone to _look_ their best and I want everyone to be actively participating and talking to the guests. If not, then I'll _personally_ talk to you." Akashi glared at the crowd, speaking in a low, acidic tone that could burn through metal. Kuroko shuttered when Akashi spoke, and he continued to scan the crowd as Kise started talking again.

"Andddd! You know who else is going to show up? My modeling agency! 7 Models! So, please show them respect and uphold our name in this mansion! Also, they will be taking our very own Aomine Daiki back to London when they leave tomorrow! Aomine is leaving for London _tomorrow_!" Kise cheered excitedly and everyone reluctantly clapped their hands, due to their lack of sleep from the meeting. Some even idly turned their heads and smiled, like Hyuga and Teppei. Kuroko was frozen, his eyes grew wide and he was shocked beyond belief. Everything was going oddly in his favor, it was too easy. Aomine was leaving tomorrow night? That's way too easy.

Kuroko remembered that Aomine was standing next to him and he looked over to find a terrified child, frozen to the core. Aomine's pupils were dilated and his eyes were huge. His mouth hung slightly open and his forehead muscles twitched every now and then. Kuroko thought it was hysterical and had to use everything he had to hold himself back from laughing. He bit his inner lip, a chuckle was starting to rise. The great Aomine Daiki was scared? How ironic.

Suddenly, a flash of red popped into Kuroko's peripheral vision and he turned his head to see Kagami-who looked like he had just showed up at the last moment-as shocked as Aomine. He must've just heard Kise talk about Aomine leaving. How perfect timing.

Kuroko looked back at the blunette, who is now staring at Kagami from across the lounge. He looked like he wanted to call out to Kagami but no words came out, so he started to move when a hand grabs him.

"I know it's sudden Aomine but we have to plan your trip! Come on! Arn't you excited?!" Kise giggled happily as he grabbed Aomine's arm, dragging him away. The blunette's too shocked to fight back and Kuroko sees Aomine and Kise slowly disappear into the crowd. He turns his attention back to Kagami who has started to swiftly walk in the other direction, and he takes it as his chance to talk to him.

So he chases after him.

He pushes past the foes that he's faced in the Winter Cup and turns towards the back of the lounge, leading to the staircase. Kagami makes his way up the stairs, not noticing Kuroko as he follows hurriedly, trying to catch up.

"Kagami wait!" Kuroko calls out, panting as he holds the railing on the flight of stairs. Kagami turns around, shocked to see someone following him. His eyebrows reach for his forehead and then down again, the shock leaving his body and being replaced with the utter sadness that has driven him to his current position.

"Kuroko I can't right now. I just- I can't lose Aomine." Kagami pleads with tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Kuroko walks up the stairs and gets closer to Kagami, who surprisingly doesn't budge. Now they're only inches apart from each other. The stairs creak idly as the laughter and commotion from downstairs grows louder. It looks like they all finally woke up.

"But you're not losing him. He's just going away for a while." Kuroko tried to cheer him up, but anything involving Aomine and Kagami together made him want to barf. His patience was slowly falling and he didn't know how long he would last. Kagami just shook his head, words were beyond him at this point.

"I can't deal with this.. I thought I could and I was okay with it earlier but I just can't. The more I think about it, the more negative thoughts flood in." Kagami was avoiding Kuroko's blank gaze, staring anywhere but his face. He felt his cheeks start to heat up slowly. Why was he reacting like this? Kuroko was just staring at him. He shouldn't be ashamed, so why was he afraid to look him in the eyes.

Kuroko was focusing more and more on Kagami, the intensity of his gaze made the red head flinch and he finally snapped, looking back at his friend.

"Maybe it's all for the best. Maybe it's good for you to have some time off." Kuroko was critical, because he couldn't take it anymore. He was grinding his teeth and his fists were clenching. His fingernails dug into his palms and he could feel the skin about to break.

" _Dammit Kagami. Why can't you just see that he's not right for you._ " Kuroko contemplated, scanning over every little detail of the red head's face. He didn't know when he did, but when he started liking Kagami, everything he did became lovely to him. The hugeness of his appetite, the shortness of his temper, the skillfulness he had when playing basketball. He was staring at Kagami's lips when they started to move, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"He can't just leave me. There's so much that I need to tell him but he's leaving. He'll probably forget about me and-" Kagami was startled as something pushed him against the wall at the top of the staircase. His eyes grew wide when something warm and soft touched his lips. He opened his eyes in shock to see Kuroko, standing on his tippy-toes, right in front of his face,

kissing him.

* * *

BRBRBRNRNRNRNRRNRNR This took forever to write because I didn't feel like following my plot that I had laid out so I was like yolo and switched things up a bit so it took a little longer than expected bbut OMG GUYS CLIFFHANGERZZZ. aaahhh. I can't even with myself right now okay. Idk why but each chapter keeps getting longer and longer because I'm thinking of more stuff to add and stuff and blehbhlelb. I'm so hyper right now man you guys and your reviews light up my day like mmm I'm so happy thank you for the positive feedback. Once again, if you find any typos feel free to tell me and review and like and fave if you did like it and all that jazz I love you guys okay bye3.

-Cryle


	4. Perfidy

**DISCLAIMER** :: I do not own KNB or it's characters. However, I do own this story. Please do not redistribute without permission.

 **WARNING** :: Implied masturbation and sex. If you are sensitive to those things please turn back.

Chapter IV: Perfidy

* * *

Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no he had messed up. He had messed up big time, and this time, he didn't know how to fix it. He felt a push and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor. Kagami pushed him hard, a little too hard, and his butt already ached from the sudden contact with the ground. His heart pounded and he clenched his hands into fists. He fucked up big time, and now Kagami would probably avoid him at all costs. Even if he was dense, Kuroko knew that his red haired friend would figure out that he liked him.

"Kur-Kuroko..." Kagami stammered, realizing that he had pushed Kuroko with more force than intended. He put his fingers up to his lips and brushed over them slowly. The realization of what happened took its sweet time to settle in.

Kuroko just kissed him. Kuroko, his close friend, just kissed him. His insides felt like they were twisting and he panicked. Why, why would he do such a thing? Kagami's mind flipped through all the conclusions to justify what had just happened. Did that mean that Kuroko liked him? Did that mean that he had cheated on Aomine by kissing someone even though he didn't kiss back? Did that mean that he got too close to Kuroko? Did he even understand Kuroko's feelings?  
Kuroko saw Kagami's terrified face and then it was his turn to feel his guts twisting. He cursed under his breath, using so many profanities that he didn't know he knew. He let his desires get the best of him and cursed again. He didn't mean to kiss him, but in the spur of the moment—and to shut Kagami up about Aomine—he did.

He wouldn't admit it out loud but, it did feel good.

"Kagami... I-I can explain..." Kuroko tried to form a coherent sentence, tried to say something, anything, but he just stuttered and blinked and sat there on the cold floor, helpless.

Kagami's former terrified expression slowly changed to a hard one. He stayed silent, coming to the conclusion that he wasn't going to say anything. His eyebrows scrunched up again and he shook his head, words were failing him. His legs were slightly shaking as he stepped forward, passed Kuroko, and went up the stairs.

* * *

Kise skipped happily down the hallway, his darker skinned friend still in his grasp. He hummed to himself as he unlocked the door to his room, and cheerfully walked inside. It was the force of the arm he was holding that stopped him in his tracks. He turned his head, cocking it slightly to the side.

"Aominecchi, what's wrong?" Kise asked curiously, tugging on Aomine to enter his room. He tried to look at his friend in the eyes, but the blunette's head was hung so low that he surprisingly couldn't see past his short hair. A cloud of anger slowly rose from the taller male as reality hit him—just as it did to his boyfriend moments ago. He was leaving Japan _tomorrow_. He was leaving _Kagami_ tomorrow.

"Kise. I can't go." Aomine bluntly said, yanking his arm away from the other. A small gasp escaped from the blonde male and he furrowed his brows.

"Look Aominecchi, I know that you were conflicted between telling Kagami.. And I know that it's so sudden but there's no way around it. The company set this up. Even I declined at first! I Swear! But, they didn't listen to me and said that we had to leave today according to their schedule.." Kise explained wholeheartedly to Aomine who wouldn't budge, or lift his head up for that matter. Kise's words didn't reach him however, and Aomine just took a step back and turned around.

"Sorry but I can't go. I can't just leave so suddenly. If they want me as a model then they can have me in a month. Not tomorrow." Aomine spat at Kise, although his anger wasn't towards him—more like the modeling company in itself. Aomine shook his head slightly, _quickly_ , as if to silently apologize to Kise and then continued down the hall. The model called out to him, thrusting his hand into the air in order to grab Aomine, but grasped at nothing. He watched as Aomine walked down the hall and accidentally bumped into the rest of his basketball team coming back from the meeting.

"HEY WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FUCKING GOING AOMINE!" Kasamatsu growled at him, clenching his fist and yelling into his face. Kise flinched, his nerves suddenly on end. He expected to see a fight break out but Aomine just shrugged Kasamatsu off and headed for the staircase; since the elevator was shut off during the night. Kasamatsu snapped out of his fury and stared blankly at Aomine. He was expecting him to say something back just as Kise had expected, his anger falling away from him as fast as it had came.

"Is he going to be alright?" Kasamatsu asked Kise, who sighed and put his hand through his hair.

"I honestly don't know." Kise answered, saying goodnight to his teammates and shutting his door quietly. He silently sat on his bed and plucked out his phone from his pocket. Being a model and traveling places had its advantages, so Kise was always introduced to the new technologies that were availabl, since he might have to sell the product through modeling, and unlocked his foreign phone. He forgot what the name was called, but it was slim and had a huge screen so he honestly didn't care. Opening up his messages, Kise clicked his tongue as he saw three of them from Akashi.

 **Akashicchi** : _"I swear if you mess up the party tomorrow I will personally have you gutted and displayed outside in the courtyard."  
_  
 _"The modeling company expects great things from us and will help me pay for the loans on this mansion. But only if we are presentable. Don't mess this up."  
_  
 _"Make sure you and Aomine pack up everything. If something happens to my plans then I will be beyond furious. Goodnight."  
_  
As Kise read the texts he couldn't help but shudder. He knew that since Aomine had refused his request to leave tomorrow, Akashi's plans would be messed up. If the modeling company doesn't have things their way, then they would probably refuse to aid Akashi with the mansion finances. And if they refused that, Akashi would have someone's head—Kise was sure of it. Although Kise would still be leaving tomorrow he was positive that 7 Models would not be happy with only getting half the package deal.

The blonde sighed as he stripped off his clothes and put a night shirt on over his boxers. He debated whether or not to reply to Akashi and decided that it was best not to. He didn't want him to have a heart attack so late at night.

"I'll have plenty of time to talk to him tomorrow.." Kise yawned and pulled the blankets over his slim body, putting his phone on the night stand. His mind started to drift back to when his modeling company had first noticed Aomine. Kise would never admit it but every time he was around Aomine, he felt different.

 _"Wow Kise you look stunning." Aomine teased as he sat in Kise's studio chair, licking his icecream bar that he got from the employee's break room. Kise was ecstatic that Aomine finally decided to join him on set and he took a slight step back from where he was standing, embarrassed by Aomine's comment.  
_  
 _"Well that's why I'm here." Kise responded as he waited for his photographer to finish looking over the last set of photos. The photo-shoot was for a new business clothing line that sold matching business suits for gay couples. It surprised Kise at first, since he never worked for a company like that before and was opened to a new line of fashion. Kise looked down at himself and saw how his suit tailored him perfectly, showing off his slim but built figure. He wondered if the people looking at him on magazines fantasizes about what lay underneath.  
_  
 _"All done Kise. Good work today!" His photographer cheered, standing up and walking over to him. He was going to give Kise a high five when he noticed Aomine impatiently standing up and walking over to them. Although it was fun watching people take pictures of his friend, Aomine was bored and ready to go.  
_  
 _"Wait... Sir would you mind standing over here next to Kise? I want to see something." The photographer asked politely, and Aomine just nodded, walking over to Kise and standing next to him. He looked over at the blonde as if to ask him what he wanted and in response Kise just shrugged his shoulders. They could see the photograph running back to his camera and talking to his co-workers but they couldn't make out the words. Suddenly the photographer gasped and put his hand over his mouth.  
_  
 _"Yep. This is what we've been looking for." The man said with a slight gleam in his eyes. Aomine shifted his weight on his other foot and glanced at Kise. He wanted to ask the man what the hell his problem was, but he had more respect than that. This wasn't his job, it was Kise's. Therefore, if he were to say something he could not only end up hurting his job potential but hurting Kise's as well. The blonde just stood there, eyes slightly large as he scratched the back of his neck.  
_  
 _"Is something wrong Sir?" He asked with a small waver in his voice. Kise knew what was about to happen in the back of his mind, but he opted to not tell Aomine. The photographer picked up his way too expensive camera and slowly walked over to them.  
_  
 _"No quite the opposite actually. Can you two do a quick pose? The number 5 would be great." The photographer beamed as he got on one knee, his camera resting on his other leg.  
_  
 _Despite not knowing what the photographer meant, Aomine was quick to act as he remembered the poses Kise was looking over before the shoot. There was multiple papers with other models doing different poses and they all had numbers. Aomine scrambled through his mind and recalled the pose that the photographer wanted. He froze for a millisecond. The pose had been two males with the slightly larger one resting his face into the smaller ones neck. Meanwhile, the smaller one was looking at the camera, and both of the males hands were on each other's waists. Aomine was slightly guilty, he had never been this close to anyone besides Kagami since their relationship started, but the guilty feeling slowly faded when he realized that it was only for modeling. He didn't hold any special feelings for the blonde, so he shrugged off the thought and rested his head into Kise's neck, then slowly wrapped his hands around the blonde's waist. Before he could make some witty comment to tease Kise, the blonde swiftly moved into his pose and the contact from Kise's hands on Aomine's waist made him shudder. The blunette smirked to himself as he came to the realization that this was why Kise was so good at what he did. He was a natural, and his body sparked to life when he was under the camera.  
_  
 _The photographer seemed to love what was in front of him as he moved his camera at different angles while the males stood completely still. It was awkward for Aomine at first, but the longer it went on he became more comfortable with Kise's touch. It was strange to him, since his clothes were completely different from Kise's. He wore something simple and casual while Kise had the company's suit on.  
_  
 _Once the photographer was finished snapping tons of pictures, he clapped his hands together and walked up to both of them. Aomine slowly raised his head as both of them released their grip on each other and he suddenly felt longing for Kise's touch again. It had been quick, but he brushed it aside and figured it was just a new experience for him and modeling would be filled with situations like these. He glanced over at Kise, who was smiling at his photographer. He seemed to not care in the slightest, and gave Aomine a small wink. Then, the photographer turned to Aomine and pulled a small business card out of his back pocket. He handed it to him and smiled slightly.  
_  
 _"I eagerly anticipate the outcome of us working together, son."  
_

* * *

Aomine opened the creaky door to the staircase that was located at the end of hallway, and he felt a chill go down his spine. It was unusually cold in the staircase, and Aomine breathed out a short sigh, looking at the white fog that was his breath. The stairwell was cut off from the air conditioning units so whenever it was the middle of the summer it was blazing hot, and in the winter it was freezing cold. The air surrounding Aomine didn't help his mood as he slowly made his way up the stairs to reach his floor. He had his hands in his pockets and looked as if he was in another world. He felt desolated and disgruntled, each step he took seemed to weigh more and more and as a result, started to slow down his pace. He was miserable and malcontent at the same time, wanting to find Kagami and apologize but at the same time wanting to rest and act like his problems never existed.

He wasn't an idiot, he knew that Kagami secretly hated the fact that he was leaving. Even if he was able to play it off in his bedroom, Aomine knew that Kagami's heart was wavering from the offer he got. He started to wonder if their relationship could be so easily broken by a small job offer. Hell who was he kidding, it wasn't by any means small. He would've had to move, almost across the entire world. On top of that, he felt the same guilty feeling rise in his chest from when he had posed with Kise. He decided not to tell Kagami that specific detail since he deemed it not a big deal, but the feeling in his chest told him otherwise.

Aomine cursed to himself and held his head—he didn't like to think this much. When he reached the fourth floor he slid open the door with ease and was greeted to Momoi and Wakamatsu chatting outside Imayoshi's door. He pondered how they teleported from the meeting downstairs up to his floor so fast when the elevators were shut off for the night.

"Ah! Dai-chan!" Momoi clapped her hands together happily and motioned Aomine to come over to her and his teammate. Although Aomine was curious to what they were doing outside Imayoshi's door, he shrugged off the idea and waved his hand at them. Momoi pouted and raised her voice at Aomine but he tuned her out, unlocking the key to his room door and stepping inside.

"Today was a rather shitty day." Aomine said to himself when he was finally alone. He kicked off his shoes and walked over to his bed, casually sitting down on it and staring at the wall that was across from him. He had conflicting feelings about what to do. Should he call Kagami? Should he just wait until the morning? Hell was Kagami even upset?

Aomine reached for his phone and searched through his contact list, stopping when he saw Kagami's name and pressed the call button. His heart started to beat slowly and he realized he didn't know what to say. The buzzing of the phone went off and on and Aomine waited patiently for his boyfriend to answer. When he heard the buzzing end he jumped up slightly in his position and cleared his throat.

"H-hey Kagami um-."

"Hey! Sorry I couldn't answer the phone right now. If you'll leave your name and number I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I'm probably playing basketball though so it'll be a while. See ya!" Kagami's annoying voicemail blasted through the phone and into Aomine's ear and he once again cursed loudly. Damn Kagami and his misleading voicemail. If Aomine wasn't so anxious and frustrated he probably would've laughed at that.

"I guess I'll just call him in the morning." The blunette decided as he ended the call and locked his phone. He placed it on his night stand next to a small card. He looked at the card grudgingly and then threw it in the trash when he realized what it was. It had been that stupid photographer's business card and Aomine regretted calling him as soon as he saw it.

Deciding that he wouldn't take anymore emotional abuse, Aomine stripped himself of his clothes and walked towards his bathroom. Depending on his mood, he would either take a shower at night or in the morning. Usually his night showers were for clearing his mind and not turning his bed into filth, for it was his haven and if he slept in it without showering then it would get dirty from the filth that he carried throughout that day.

"Yeah.. I'll have plenty of time to talk to him tomorrow. It's not like we'll be dead or anything." Aomine stated as he entered the bathroom, stripping himself of his undergarments and covering himself in warm water.

* * *

"What do you want?" Midorima asked through the crack between his slightly opened door and the wall. Kuroko had decided to ask Midorima for his advice, discreetly of course. After Kagami just walked away from him he figured that the red head didn't want to be followed. Subsequently, he went to the third floor to see Midorima. He would ask his friend for advice in this situation and hopefully it would stay between them. He didn't want to spread his business all over the whole mansion, especially when it was a complete accident. Well, _maybe_ a complete accident.

"Can I come in please? I need your advice." Kuroko was slightly ashamed that he had come to this point, but he had messed up and he couldn't risk ruining his whole relationship with his best friend. Kuroko stared blankly at his green haired friend, waiting for him to open the door more. Rather than responding, Midorima began staring at him, his eyes almost as blank as the blue ones that stole his view.

"No." He said as he went to close the door, but Kuroko acted quickly and pushed his shoulder up against the wood, stopping Midorima from advancing.

"Please. Midorima-kun. I need your help." Kuroko pushed against the door with some force, since his green haired friend was slightly bigger than him, he was at a disadvantage.

"What's going on Shin-chan?.." A familiar voice rung in Kuroko's ears and he smirked to himself. So that's why Midorima didn't want him to come in, because another guy had been in his room. Kuroko was duly impressed.

Midorima just sighed as he opened the door all the way, revealing a rather pleasant sight. Kuroko remembered his foe back in the Winter Cup. Or had it been in the Intern High? He couldn't think clearly as his thoughts were filled with memories of the first person who could stop him. Who could _see_ him. At that time, it was quite shocking to Kuroko, and the shock was brought back to him—and as he stood in Midorima's bedroom—Takao was quiet revealing himself, having only boxers and a t-shirt on.

"Oh hey Kuroko!" Takao beamed his slanted eyes at Kuroko mischievously, a smile creeping into his lips slowly, tentatively. Kuroko questioned whether he was just being friendly or if he was secretly planning something. The blue haired male just stood there, obviously too dumb-founded or too lazy to actually reply.

"Why do you need my help?" Midorima broke up the silent tension that dared to smother the males by closing the door and speaking out into the thick air. He would almost say that the tension was so thick he could cut it with a butter knife; but, he decided to leave the bad puns to Izuki and just ask why his former partner why he was in his room in the first place.

"Can I ask you a personal question? Like about relationships." Kuroko turned to Midorima, who was now walking over to his bed. His fingers worked reflexively, almost hypnotically, as he folds the covers gently around each corner, as if he was caressing a small child. He fluffed up the pillows and gently made his bed, for reasons unknown to Kuroko. He pondered on why Midorima would bother to make his bed if he was going to sleep in it right after Kuroko would take his leave. Maybe, under whatever circumstances, Midorima always wanted to be presentable. Kuroko chuckled at the thought, remembering how much Akashi and Midorima got along.

"As long as it's not about Takao and I." Midorima replied, as he finished making the bed. Takao chuckled at his friend, no wait, his boyfriend. Kuroko didn't pay attention to the threat that was evident in green haired male's voice as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't worry no one will find out. Although you two already act like a couple outside of the mansion anyways." Kuroko stated, which was a little op out of character for him. Usually he was quiet and cautious, never speaking out of line or saying something too offensive. Takao giggled at Kuroko's statement and went over to sit next to Midorima on the bed. Kuroko also sat down on the mattress, viewing Midorima's room. He scanned it slowly, taking in every detail of the room and the small doorway that would lead to the bathroom. When Kuroko first moved to Z, he was astounded at how much space he got to himself. Although to Kagami, since the rooms in the mansion were smaller than the apartment he stayed at in high school, he wasn't as impressed.

All of the rooms in Z had a bedroom, and a small doorway that lead to the bathroom. The main kitchen was downstairs and if anyone wanted to lounge around, the lounge area across from the kitchen was the way to go. Sometimes the kitchen was stocked with food and back in the beginning, when the Seirin teamed first moved to Z, Kagami and Kuroko would sneak in the kitchen at night and make burgers and milkshakes. Tons of burgers and milkshakes. It had been one Kuroko's fondest memories of his time with Kagami.

But, just as quickly as their nightly excursions began, they came to a halt. Kagami would go spend time in Aomine's room instead of hang with Kuroko in the kitchen. Kuroko was secretly stubborn, so although no one was around at the time, the male would walk into the kitchen alone and cook by himself. It used to be a time for him to clear his mind and tell himself to move on, but the more he tried, the harder it got.

"Let's help him Shin-chan. What's wrong Kuroko?" Takao pleaded and then asked, putting his hands on Midorima's shoulder and resting his chin on top. He had a curious look on his face and Kuroko started to judge if this was a good idea. He understood that he couldn't turned back now, and that Midorima and Takao would be really perplexed if he just said never mind and up and left.

"Well. What should you do if you like someone that's already in a relationship." Kuroko said hesitantly, wanting to fiddle his fingers but realized that it would make him look all the more anxious.

"Nothing. You don't do anything." Midorima responded bluntly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. It irked Kuroko how he always thought that the hardest things in the world to some people were always the simplest. But his answered intrigued him nonetheless.

"Nothing?" Kuroko asked, shifting more of his body to face the lovers.

"Yeah. If they're already in a relationship you shouldn't try to come between that person and someone else. If someone tried to get in between Shin-chan and I, I would kill him." Takao replied, now he rested his cheek on his hand and smiling at Midorima who shrugged him off annoyingly. Kuroko couldn't help but smile. If he took a picture of them at that exact movement, it would represent their relationship perfectly.

"Especially if they really care for their partner. You could end up hurting them instead and the whole thing will backfire." Midorima said, looking at Kuroko blankly. Everything they said seemed to be boring to them and the problem seemed to be a simple one that everyone should know about.

But Kuroko didn't know.

Sure he knew how to treat a friend, he knew how to treat a girlfriend and he knew how to treat family. He knew how to cook for a sick one and he knew how to give space to an angered teammate. He knew how to calm someone down and he knew how to tell someone that he enjoyed their company.

But he didn't know this.

"Oh..." Was the only thing he could muster up as he realized that he went too far this time.

"Why? Did something happen? Is Bakagami trying to hook up with girls who already have boyfriends?" Midorima asked, a small smile creeping up on his lips. He could see Kagami doing something so idiotic, so he just had to ask.

"Haha no no.." It was Kuroko's turn to smile as he thought to himself. It was quite the opposite actually. The couple just stayed silent and decided to wait and see if the smaller make had anything else to say. Kuroko searched his mind for an answer. He needed to know what to do with this kind of rejection. Although the feeling of rejection wasn't foreign to him, the feeling of getting rejected by a close friend was.

"So if you do nothing, what do you do if you keep hurting?" Kuroko asked again, this time he lost all willpower and was fiddling with the end of his shirt, wrapping it around his finger and then letting it loose again. Watching it crinkle around his digit and then fall back into place.

"The person has to move on. It's never morally right to do something like that. Tell whoever is having this problem exactly what we said okay?" Takao beamed again, standing up off of the bed and stretching. He secretly was trying to let Kuroko take a hint that he wanted to be alone with Midorima.

"Yeah. It's too troublesome to do all of that anyways." Midorima stood up as well, walking over to the door and opening it softly.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks guys. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon at the party." Kuroko bowed to Takao who just blushed and shooed him off. He knew he didn't have to treat him that politely, but he wanted to show respect for the new found information that he had just received from them.

"Bye Kuro-chan! Make sure to be presentable!" Takao winked as he flopped back onto the bed, and Kuroko just nodded at him. He made his way outside to the hallway and turned back around to see Midorima give him a slight nod. The blue haired male also gave a small nod, a mutual understanding was traded between their eyes as they understood each other's situations. Midorima had already figured out who Kuroko was referring to earlier, and Kuroko would keep his mouth shut about Takao.

When the door closed, Kuroko silently made his way to the stairs, descending down the flights under he reached the first floor. The cold air hadn't bothered him. Maybe it was because he wasn't paying attention, or maybe it was because he thinking to me. He had the faintest idea as he slipped through the hallway and walked to his room.

Before he entered his room, he looked over to his right and glanced at Kagami's bedroom door. He felt embarrassed for looking, even if no one was actually there, and fumbled with his key to unlock the door. In the back of his mind he wanted to knock on Kagami's door, but the thought faded away.

Once he made his way inside, he slipped his shoes off and slowly slithered out of his pants. He threw them into a small blue hamper next to his closet and plopped into bed. The softness of his blankets and the cool temperature of his pillow makes him drowsy. But still, despite all the distractions that last around him, he thinks about Kagami.

He thinks about the first time he met Kagami in his old high school's courtyard. He remembers how he saw him sign up for the basketball club as he walked silently behind him.

He thinks about how Kagami was amazed at the thousands of kids who would rush to get food during lunch time. He remembers his annoying yet amusing English accent as he spoke the foreign language.

He thinks about how Kagami promised to help him become the best player in Japan. He remembers the fight they had for a brief moment in history about what teamwork really was.

He thinks about the first fist bump he ever got from him, the first skin contact that he ever cherished. He remembers how he wanted to feel more from Kagami.

He thinks about the first time the team stayed together to practice for the Winter Cup. He remembers how Kagami made fun of his ridiculous bed hair and secretly teased him about it for weeks.

He remembers everything. He remembers everything about the red head and is suddenly sparked with excitement. Not only from the thoughts of him, but at the thought of what the day used to be like for him. It was full of endless possibility when he was with the red head. Though in a million superficial ways it would be identical to the day before—they would play basketball at the same gym and eat at the same place—his _experiences_ would always be new.

He remembers it all again, he breathes it all again, he lives it all again.

And it haunts him, and he secretly tortures himself, aching to feel the heat of Kagami's lips on his just as it was earlier. Was he nothing more than a hormonal teenager, or was there something more to his burning desires for his friend?

Kuroko knows that there is no place for such emotions between them now, he knows that he shouldn't lust over a companion who was lusting over someone else, but Kagami was never a very sensible guy.

He wants to feel Kagami, force him into a corner and give himself to the other wholeheartedly. His desires made him mad, it made him mad with the reality that would poison his fantasies every time he lay a hand upon himself. It made him mad when the feelings of his best friend were directed to another and sliced his heart open mercilessly. It made him mad when his wounds would continue to grow as did his lovers relationship with the other man as the days went on.

His scars never healed, his heart never resurfaced and his feelings never stopped.

This is how much he wanted Kagami, this is how much he throbbed for him, bled for him, grieved for him. He had been Kuroko's missing piece, Kuroko's light in the darkness of his life that he had always lived.

So when his hand slowly made its way to his manhood, he didn't feel guilt, he didn't feel the capability for throwing himself on the other in the stairway, their lips forced awkwardly together like two magnets of the same charge. He didn't feel responsible, as he remembered the way Kagami undressed his layers upon layers of clothing at Maji Burger earlier that day.

He didn't feel anything, he didn't feel anything but the spiking pleasure that rose from his stomach with the heat of an intense fire, much like Kuroko's imagination of Kagami's own force.

He imagined Kagami taking him fiercely, entering his foreign hole and rendering his virginity obsolete before any preparation. At the same time, he also imagined Kagami prepping him slowly, tenderly kissing his nape, nose and neck until he couldn't respond any other way but a moan and a gasp. And Kuroko would clench onto him tightly, shaking in a gasp of light blue hair and creamy white skin as Kagami would start to move.

The longer it went on, the more violent his thrusts would get and the louder Kuroko's voice would scream, trying to squeeze out all the love he held for him at once. He would grasp Kagami's lips onto his and search his mouth with a fervor that no explorer had ever felt before. Kagami would shift until he found the spot that would ultimately drown Kuroko in pleasure. And he would ruthlessly taint it over and over until Kuroko would scream, cry almost, as his body rejected all of its frustrations and contentment all at once.

His movements moved quicker, and the pounding of his heart followed as he squeezed his eyebrows together and released himself onto his bed. His chest heaved and breathed out a breath of wanting and anxiety. He knew that if he ever did it with Kagami, that they would make love. Something that he doubted Aomine could ever present to Kagami. And it would be great, if only Kagami had loved him.

He looked downwards, towards the end of the bed, noticing how he tainted his hands and his bed sheets with the forgotten substance that showed his sickening lust.

The smell filled his nostrils,

and suddenly, he _loathes_ himself.

* * *

Kagami knew that communication was an important thing. He knew that communicating with your significant other would build trust and lead a stable foundation for the relationship. He knew that, and that's why he always tried to get Aomine to talk to him about whatever emotional build up he was dealing with.

He just didn't know how to tell him about that kiss. The kiss that came from nowhere. The kiss that made him terrified to think of what Aomine would do if he found out. The kiss that held a thousand truths from his friend yet he couldn't decide what was reality and what wasn't.

Sure he had played around with guys in the past, teased them and sometimes kissed their cheek to scare them senseless. But never this. He never experienced anything like that. Of course the situation seemed like the same thing he had been doing with Aomine alone. Obviously it wasn't like he wasn't used to kissing a guy, for he had gone farther with Aomine than just kissing—way farther.

But Kuroko had done something to him that seemed almost taboo. He had kissed someone that was in a relationship. Maybe he could talk to him about it, found out why he did it? Maybe Kuroko wasn't thinking straight? Maybe he just saw something on Kagami's lips and wanted to get it off... with his lips?

Kagami was in denial, _hard_ cold denial. He couldn't come to the conclusion that Kuroko liked him. He always felt as if Kuroko was a lone soul and just liked having friends. He never showed any love interest, his feelings would always be hidden from the world. But maybe that was it. Maybe that's what Kuroko was fed up with.  
Maybe Kuroko actually did like him. Maybe Kuroko actually kissed him on those stairs for a valid reason and not for some prank. Maybe Kuroko did have feelings for the red head.

Kagami cursed as he scrambled the eggs repeatedly. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to talk about it and he definitely didn't want to see Kuroko. The more he thought about the whole situation, the more he abused the poor eggs that nearly splashed out of the pan.

"Kagami you might murder the eggs. Slow down you idiot!" Hyuga yelled from across the marble lined kitchen. He was setting the table with Kiyoshi who was laughing silently at their antics. It was nearly breakfast time and they decided to claim the kitchen for themselves before any other team could since Akashi set up a rule that only one team could eat in the kitchen at a time, due to a party that was set up by Aomine and Kagami a while back.

They invited all the teams that lived in the mansion to make chocolate and it had been one hell of a party. There was chocolate everywhere. And that was an understatement in itself. Kagami found chocolate in a new place on his body every day. Akashi was fed up with having the kitchen caked with cocoa, and he didn't want to pay extra expenses just to clean up the leftovers. His justification was that since they acted like kids he would treat them like kids.

So the Seirin team scored the beautifully silver lined kitchen for the morning. It was beyond anything like the red head had seen, or even imagined. All of the utensils were a beautiful metallic silver that shone under the chandelier which sprinkled the marble floor with different hues of blue and white. There was an island that separated the oven, sink, microwave and refrigerator from multiple silver counters.

Kagami laughed at Hyuga's friendly insult and bowed his head to show his Senpai some respect. He slowed down his pace of scrambling the eggs and grabbed a small glass of salt and pepper then he sprinkled it into the eggs, and dashed them with cheddar cheese. It was his favorite breakfast. A bunch of eggs, a dozen pieces of toast and a whole pack of bacon later and he would be asleep on the couch. The kiss with Kuroko quickly faded from his mind when his nostrils filled with the greasy smell of bacon and eggs. His stomach growled and Hyuga laughed at Kagami's embarrassment.

"Hey Kiyoshi. Call up the rest of the team will you?" Hyuga asked as he stood next to Kagami, flipping the bacon over on the other side. Kiyoshi nodded and went over to the intercom that was mounted to the wall. He scrolled through the floor list and selected the first floor. This way the intercom sound would only be heard on the selected floor. Kagami's heart started pounding at the realization that Kuroko would probably be heading to the kitchen after that.

"Good morning everyone! Kagami, Hyuga and I are in the kitchen and breakfast is almost ready. If you're up and hungry, you can come down so we can eat." Kiyoshi said in a sweet voice, smiling to himself like the big idiot he was. Kagami and Hyuga paid Kiyoshi no mind as they finished up the remainder of the breakfast; popping the toast into the toaster and pulling out the butter and jelly.

Kagami had hoped that after he ate, he could go talk to Aomine about yesterday. He prayed that Kise would announce their leave at the front door with goodbye hugs and kisses, that way he could at least say what he needed to the blunette. The red head was then filled with guilt as he thought of the kiss on the stairwell. Kagami tried to search for what to say to Kuroko since seeing him today proved to be inevitable, but he was only presented with an annoying headache so he sighed and brought the food to the table, organizing it to make Akashi more than happy if he secretly planned to stop by.

Kagami then suddenly remembered the "sophisticated, elegant and well-mannered" party that was suppose to take place tonight in the same area that he stood. He didn't really like party's with representatives and pretentious political perpetrator who would just talk shit and gossip about the wonders of the lower class. Kagami would probably just head to Maji Burger by himself and eat dinner there. Maybe call Aomine and ask him if he had landed... or text Kuroko to make sure they weren't awkward around each other.

Kagami didn't pay attention as he thought about what he would do for the rest of the day, so when he turned around and bumped into a ball of light blue hair, he gasped and nearly dropped the plate of eggs.

"Jesus Kuroko please.." Kagami set down the plate of eggs and clenched his heart. It took him a while to realize that Kuroko had been there for a while now, watching him as he set up the table with the various foods.

"How long have you been-"

"The whole time Kagami. You even spoke out loud at one point." Kuroko said with a blank gaze. Kagami couldn't read what was going through his mind—which was a first for the close friends—but his expression proved to the red head that Kuroko wasn't indifferent about the kiss. In his eyes, in was neither good or bad. And for some odd reason, that annoyed Kagami. He searched his eyes for an answer but couldn't find any and got lost in Kuroko's blue haze.

"What did I say out loud..." Kagami asked, more to himself than anyone and still kept his gaze on Kuroko. The smaller male's hair was slightly in his eyes as he looked up at his friend, but his blank face was still visible.

"You were thinking about what you were going to say to me... about earlier." This was when Kagami could sense that the smaller male was embarrassed. Although his skin was almost pale white, Kuroko barely blushed, and so looking at his cheeks did nothing. Instead, Kagami quickly glanced down at Kuroko's small hands and saw that his fingers were messing with the end of his light blue shirt. Bingo. Kuroko was embarrassed about the kiss as well.

"Oh. We can talk about that later. Let's eat instead." Kagami laughed off the situation, scratching the back of his neck and moving out of the way. Kuroko just nodded and took a seat next to where Kagami was standing. The rest of the team was still showing up, and as Kagami took a seat next to Kuroko he could hear Izuki making a pun about the food.

"Wow guys the food looks egg-stravagant!" Izuki yelled, sitting across the Kagami. Hyuga just sighed and slapped Izuki on the side of the head, earning himself a yelp and some fake crying.

Kagami smiled at how easily his teammates were able to joke around and was about to grab a piece of bacon from the plate when he felt his phone vibrate over and over. The phone was loud enough to draw attention from Kuroko as he watched Kagami reach for his phone. At first the red head thought—more like hoped—that it was Aomine, but when he saw the unknown number he gained a puzzled look on his face and answered it anyways.

"Hello?" Kagami asked slowly, a puzzled look resting upon his face. Riko, Mitobe, Koga and the first years made their way into the kitchen and was greeted by a smiling Kiyoshi. No one was really paying attention to Kagami as he sat there on his phone.

Except for Kuroko, who was sitting close enough to hear the person speaking over the phone.

"Hello. Is this Taiga Kagami?" A voice that sounded so elegant and mature resonated in Kuroko's ears as he realized that the person was speaking English.

"Ah, yes. I am Taiga. May I ask who is speaking?" Kagami's voice got even more confused as the conversation went on, but he remained in his seat and looked down in his lap. Although Kuroko's English wasn't that good, he could still tell by the sound of the conversation what was going on. He assumed that someone from America had called Kagami—for whatever reason.

"My name is Evelyn Katherine Louisa and I'm a nurse at UCLA Medical Center. My patient said to call you since you're the only family she has at the moment." Evelyn said in a graceful tone and Kuroko could only make out her name as the rest of the sentence was lost to him. But Kagami, Kagami seemed as if he was more confused than Kuroko was.

"Family? No, I don't have any family in America." Kagami slurred on his English a little, letting his Japanese accent skip through. He wondered why the hell someone would call him from a hospital, he didn't have any family in America. He thought long and hard while there was a short pause on the phone.  
Unless... are they talking about _Alex_?

"Well our patient here Alexandra Garcia... She's been in a terrible accident and her emergency contact has you in it. We saw her files and she isn't married. So I'm assuming you're family." Evelyn spoke with a soft voice, not letting her emotions get in the way of what she was about to say. She was experienced, desensitized even..

"...yes I'm family. Can you explain what happened..." Kagami almost choked on his own saliva. He didn't know what was making his stomach churn but it was forcing him to put his hand over his mouth. He wanted to puke.

"Well.. She's hanging on by a thread. Her insurance covers more than enough for her hospital bills. I searched through your records and saw that you live in Japan. The hospital can book you a direct flight here to California. She needs you right now." Evelyn's voice was shaky as she tried to hide her composure, and as she continued to speak, the inevitable was creeping its way up to Kagami. He knew what she was going to say next, he knew and yet he waited patiently, for he had a little glint of hope that what she would say next would not be absolute.

"...She might not make it."

* * *

 **A/N** :: It's been a while hasn't it ;)? Finals week nipped me on the ass so I had more trouble than I thought writing this. But it's finally over and now MY SUMMER BEGINS. MORE ANIME AND WRITING PRAISE. Plus, with all the feedback I got from the last chapter I tried my best to deliver here! Thank you so much for your constant faves and follows and reviews. It gives me hope that this story isn't a complete failure and that people actually like it. I hope you liked that Kuroko masturbation angst scene thing. I was debating if I should put it in or not but I wanted you guys to see some stuff from his point of view + the cute MidoTaka, ahhh I love them. If you see any typos or something that looks odd, please let me know and I'll fix it a soon as possible! If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me. I'll see you guys later (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)㈇6  
-Cryle


	5. Bathos

**DISCLAIMER** :: I do not own KNB or it's characters. However I do own this story. Please do not redistribute without permission.

Chapter V: Bathos

* * *

"You have to go talk to Akashicchi right now!" Kise dictated, then swiped his hand—that held the fanciest eyeliner pencil Aomine had ever seen—over his eye. The blonde was pampering himself as usual. His golden hair was curled into rollers, which Aomine thought was hella cute, and he had used cucumber slices on his bathroom counter. His iris' were larger and the blunette could tell that he was wearing circle lenses since his eyes were now a dark blue. Aomine smirked and thought about how good Kise would look in all dark blue. He assumed that he was getting ready for a shoot so—to stay out of the way—he just leaned against the door frame in the entrance of Kise's bathroom.

"Why me? You know we don't get along." Aomine questioned, watching Kise pick up random makeup things and do whatever the hell he was suppose to do with them. The blunette didn't know a thing about makeup except for what Momoi usually told him, and even that was limited since she hardly wore any.

"I have a photo-shoot with a different company in like two hours so you have to tell Akashicchi that you refused to go. I'm not getting the blame for all this!" Kise huffed with all the anger he could muster in his fragile body. He had texted Aomine as soon as he awoke to come to his room so he could tell him to talk to Akashi. Besides, he was really busy getting ready and he didn't want to hear Akashi's wrath.

"What kind of agency makes their models put on the makeup? I thought they were suppose to do that once you got there?"

"Actually I prefer to do it myself. Those ladies don't know how I like it!" Kise pouted, finishing up his eyeliner and getting out mascara. He always had to look his best, and in order to do that, _he_ needed to do his own makeup.

"Yeah yeah." Aomine excused Kise's previous comment as he lifted himself off the door frame and walked behind the model. He grabbed Kise's chin tenderly and twisted his head so the blonde was almost looking behind himself. Before Kise could react, Aomine moved his mouth to the blonde's ear and whispered to him sluggishly.

"You know... Dark blue really suits you, _Ryouta_.." Aomine tauntingly whispered Kise's first name and smirked, he couldn't wait to view what kind of reaction he would get out of Kise this time.

When he glanced at Kise's eyes—that were somehow even larger than before—he noticed how well the gold blended in with the blue, but he also noticed some tear droplets in the corners of his eyes and couldn't help but laugh out loud. This was one of the first times he had ever seen Kise get so perturbed. He was about to pull away when he felt something brush up against his crotch. It made him freeze.

...Was that Kise's ass?

Aomine would've missed the feeling if he wasn't paying attention, so to stop things from advancing further he pulled away, trying to maintain an unbothered look on his face. Aomine was already sexually frustrated since he hadn't done it with Kagami in a while—even though the last time Kagami offered he refused. That was all the blunette needed really, some sexual release. But it kinda sucked since the last time he tried to talk to his boyfriend, the red head ran away without any warning. Aomine remembered the last time he was sexually frustrated; all it took was a few drinks and the person that was the closest to him got fucked, _hard_.

At first Kise was flustered, beyond embarrassed as he tried to cover his face. Then Aomine could see the anger rise up in him as his eyebrows crawled towards the bridge of his nose and his breath got shallow.

"J-JUST GO!" Kise was practically yelling as he was picking up his "fancy" eyeliner pen to throw at Aomine—who was retreating out of the bathroom.

"Okay okay! I'm leaving Princess. Text me after the photo-shoot." Aomine left the room in a hurry and in return left a bewildered Kise in it's wake. For some reason Kise felt excessively hot, like the sun decided to shine upon him only. He fanned himself with his hand and looked back into the mirror. His cheeks were a slight hint of pink and he swore to everything holy that he would get Aomine back.

But, why was he blushing anyways? Was it because of how close Aomine actually was to him? Was it because of the way he spoke his name, almost sinfully? Was is because of the slight brush of Aomine's crotch on his ass? The blonde shook his head, trying to derail his mind of the thoughts. But they just stuck there like glue, piling up higher and higher until Kise couldn't take it anymore. He remembered the last time he felt the same exact feeling, it was when Aomine picked on him at the photo-shoot, and when the photographer had them pose together—close enough to kiss. Kise placed both of his hands on the bathroom counter to put his weight on and sighed, looking at his groomed self in the mirror.

"...I like Aominecchi."

* * *

Aomine made his way inside the elevator, his hand coming out of his pocket to press the bottom that would lead him to the right floor. It was quiet this early in the morning and he was glad, for he didn't get nearly enough sleep last night thinking about Kagami and all the other messed up things he had to deal with. When the elevator stopped and opened with an annoying ding, the unamused Aomine stepped out and walked into the hallway.

The top floor was the same as any floor, except this floor had the surveillance room at the end of it, and neighboring that was the door that lead to the roof. Aomine sighed when he glanced down the hall way and at the door. When he first moved into Z with Momoi, Akashi banned him from sleeping out on the roof. He didn't know why Akashi would do such a thing since Aomine loved being on roofs. But he had to comply, unless he wanted to be homeless.

He walked down the hallway to a door labeled "4" and glanced at the paper that was taped on the door. A small message was written on it.

 _ **In Surveillance Room**_

With a chuckle, Aomine turned around and suddenly felt a hard thud against his chest.

"Oh I'm sorry! Oh hey... You're Aomine." A smooth voice was heard as Aomine saw who he bumped into. Long black hair with gentle looking eyes graced his vision as outstandingly long eyelashes blinked Aomine back to reality. This dude was gorgeous, and it took the blunette a quick second to realize that he was one of the players on Akashi's team.

"Akashi always tells me stories about you." Mibuchi laughed softly and patted Aomine on the shoulder, continuing to where he was going.

"See you around." Mibuchi continued to skip down the hallway and out of Aomine's sight as he turned the corner. Although Aomine never played him on the court before, he could tell that Mibuchi wasn't someone you could mess with so easily.

"So many freaks around here man." Aomine whispered to himself as he made his way to the camera room and knocked on the door.

"Come in." He heard Akashi's voice and opened the door, a piece of fear settled its way into his stomach. He would never admit it out loud but he was afraid of Akashi because whatever he says, goes. No matter what, his word was the ultimatum.

"Oh Daiki. How nice to see you. What brings you here?" Akashi turned around in his chair, a small smile creeping its way to the corners of his mouth. His hetero-chromatic eyes slanting as a result of his smile and it made Aomine scratch the back of his head, reluctantly smiling back and glancing at the scene behind the smaller male.

Hundreds of miniature computer screens filled the wall in which Akashi sat in front of, with images of each nook and cranny scattered around the mansion that even Aomine didn't know about. He had cameras recording everything from the lounge to the kitchen to even the stairwell. Since when did they have a basement? The only thing the blunette didn't see was various rooms. He was glad that Akashi had enough sense to not install cameras in the rooms or he would definitely not be living here.

"Well.. I wanted to say that I refused the request to go with the modeling agency... I can't just leave right away like that. I can't just leave Kagami.. Especially after all thats happened. If they want me they can have me in a month when they originally scheduled it. But Kise said he would talk to his agency so don't be upset." Aomine added in the last part to try and save his ass as he saw Akashi's eyebrows furrow. He was beyond scared, he didn't want to be homeless. Maybe Momoi's parents would be nice enough to let him stay at their house since they know him so well.

"Is that so?.." Akashi asked as he turned back around in his chair. He pressed some buttons on the huge keyboard that was on the table below the monitors and some screens went off while others changed. Aomine waited patiently, he felt like the question was more rhetorical than any so he kept his mouth shut and waited for Akashi to speak again.

"How could someone refuse such a good offer? Daiki where is your head?" Akashi questioned, not looking up from what he was doing. Every now and then he would stop typing and write stuff down on a piece of paper that lay beside the keyboard. Aomine took this opportunity to try and make a joke; trying to ease the ever growing tension in the air.

"On my pillow. I didn't sleep.." Aomine chuckled at the end of his sentence, remembering the truth behind it. He was right, he didn't sleep at all last night. Between worrying about the modeling company and having a relationship that he didn't know was stable of not, Aomine didn't get any shut eye.

"Well, I've got just the thing to wake you up." Akashi said as he motioned for Aomine to come closer to him. The blunette obeyed, walking until he was right next to Akashi's chair. The smaller male then proceeded to press some keys on the keyboard and a display of the stairwell came up. Aomine looked at the top right hand corner of the small screen and saw the time and date. It was dated last night, some time after the meeting was called.

"Why are you show-" Aomine was about to ask when Akashi held up his hand, ultimately shutting him up.

"Just wait." Akashi ordered as he placed his elbows on the table and locked his fingers together. He silently rested his chin on his fingers as the footage rolled. Aomine could see a male figure walk up the stairs and it wasn't until another smaller figure walked behind the first one that he realized who they were.

Kagami and Kuroko. Together in the stairwell.

Aomine watched with hesitant eyes as curiosity filled his mind. He didn't really think anything bad about the footage until he saw light blue get closer to red. And suddenly he was anxious, tense and fearful at the same time. His stomach did back flips as the smaller male got closer to the larger one. And then,

his heart dropped.

It dropped so far that he felt as if his own discomfort would gravitate him towards the center of hell.

And he fell, and he fell, and he fell so fast that his mind couldn't organize the frames he was seeing from the pixels through the glass and then to the air and through his irises. He wanted so bad just to grab his heart and rip is through his chest and claw his way out of his skin because he couldn't escape his own suffering.

But his eyes still looked, his eyes still glued to the screen as the suffering slowly went away when he saw the larger male push the smaller one off. His eyes still grazed upon the pixels as the larger male covered in red walked away without anymore acknowledgement from the other male. His suffering left him, and the feeling to craw his way out of his own skin seized as he unknowingly let out a large breath he was holding.

"You wanted to stay for him? How disappointing. You know you can do better than that Daiki." Akashi's voice was the sound that break Aomine's concentration from the screen. He had just witnessed his boyfriend get kissed by his old best friend. A _mutual_ close friend at that. And now he was listening to an intimidating short stack insult his boyfriend. Aomine felt offended that Akashi had just talked about Kagami like he had kissed Kuroko back instead of forcefully pushing him away.

"You saw how he pushed Kuroko away. It's not like he's the devil." Aomine spat quickly at Akashi and as soon as the words left his mouth he cursed silently, wishing he didn't say anything.

"Well when he lets your used-to-be best friend kiss him behind your back he's certainly no saint." The lilt of Akashi's laugh made Aomine want to cringe. He'd hate to admit it but, a kiss was still a kiss. After all those years of playing basketball together, Kagami couldn't see the kiss coming? Since when were he reflexes failing him?

"Well then how am I suppose to feel about this? Why did you even show this to me?.." Aomine was lost, completely lost. He couldn't believe that he had come to a point where he would talk to Akashi about relationships.

"To make a point. I'm not trying to analyze your boyfriend. I'm analyzing your perception of him. It may help you know yourself better." Akashi picked up his pen between his two fingers and twirled it around, glancing at Aomine's confused face. He took this as his opportunity to keep talking.

"You may be projecting onto him what you consider to be your flaws." Akashi specified, writing something else down on his paper. Aomine didn't comprehend anything that came out of Akashi's mouth as he watched the smaller male continue to write.

"Projecting.. my flaws onto Kagami?"

"Precisely. Let me explain," Akashi stood up, positioning his dominance in the room,

"you're a well known guy to flirt around and have many flings correct? You've never been— _completely_ loyal. When you started to date Kagami, your flings came to a halt. You may be scared to admit it but deep down you don't want Kagami to do what you've been doing all your life—cheat. I wanted to show you that although you have this fear, Kagami isn't cheating on you. He may not be completely loyal in telling you the truth since this footage was obviously new to you, but he's not doing what you fear he might. So your idea of staying was a stupid one. You might have let a really good opportunity slip out of your hands." A long silence fell over the room as Aomine took in all of the things that Akashi had said. He let it settle in his brain then move its way down his esophagus and land in his stomach, where it brewed and the ideas finally made sense. Akashi hit the nail head on, but how? Just from seeing the footage and Aomine's reaction, how had he known all of that? As Aomine stared at Akashi, he finally realized why Akashi had shown him the footage: to show the blunette that he had been an idiot for rejecting the modeling company. Everything started to make sense to him and he nodded to himself slowly.

"If you'll excuse me Daiki, I have a lot of footage to go over before the party." Akashi politely said, making his way to the door and opening it for Aomine to walk through. When Aomine stepped out into the hallway he turned around in a hurry, remembering what he had originally came up to see Akashi for.

"What about the modeling agency?" Aomine asked, looking down at his former captain, who smiled slowly.

"Depending on what they say, I'll deal with you according. But right now I have my own selfish desires to deal with and I have no intentions of fooling around. Goodbye Daiki." Akashi shut the door rather rudely in Aomine's face. The blunette wanted so bad to punch the brat but he knew that Akashi was the only thing keeping the household together. How else would you be able to deal with a bunch of teenagers?

However, he was still amazed by how easily Akashi was about reading him. Was he that obvious? Or was it because he had known Akashi so long that Akashi practically knew what was going on in his relationship with Kagami because he did? He sighed slowly, thinking about the kiss and how Kagami had rejected Kuroko.

Kuroko. That little devious piece of deceiving shit. Aomine was so caught up about Akashi reading him that he didn't even think about how Kuroko had deceived him. Played him like a dog only to get what he wanted.

Aomine's brows furrowed together and the only thing that made him stop from losing his temper—besides Momoi's constant lessons for controlling anger issues—was the buzzing noise from his pocket. Aomine plucked his phone out of his pants. not bothering to look at who was calling and answered with an annoyed voice.

"Oi. What do you want?" Aomine was rather pissed now, realizing that Kuroko out of all people had the hots for his boyfriend.

"Aomine. Something happened to Alex. I'm at the airport. Please come here."

* * *

Kagami sat on a stool inside the airport, right outside the security gate. Fortunately, Evelyn, the nurse that had called him before, already booked his flight to California. She had planned for things to go this way and knew for sure that he would accept the flight when she had told him about Alex's condition. She didn't go into much detail about what it was exactly, but said that she and the Doctor would explain more when he was there in person. Before he dashed out of the kitchen earlier, Kuroko had grabbed his arm, and stopped him from advancing. He had told him that he would see him at the airport, and then let go. Kagami didn't question it—figuring that he had heard bits of the conversation on the phone—and ran to his room. After Kagami got the call, he didn't waste any time rushing to his room and throwing random clothes into his large suitcase. He looked on his dresser and saw his necklace with the ring on it. He quickly snatched it up and put it around his neck. He wondered where Himuro was in all of this, but figured that he was already there with Alex since the nurse also ordered a hotel room for him to stay in with two beds. Come to think of it, that nurse was being really nice and going out of her way for Kagami. He let it sink in his mind for a little bit before packing up everything. Phone charger, hair products, toiletries, more clothes and his favorite shoes, then rushed out into the hallway, and out the front door of the mansion.

Now here he was, anxious was just an understatement, as he fiddled with his fingers and sometimes couldn't stop touching his hair. He signed into his flight 2 hours early because he was afraid of missing it. Talk about being nervous. He checked into the kiosk, got his ticket and found a seat outside of one of the airport restaurants. He just sat outside of the security check, knowing that once he went through there, he wouldn't get to say goodbye to anyone because no one else could get through without a plane ticket. The times had changed drastically. People could almost get on the plane with the loved ones that were flying away, but now, you couldn't even get _to_ the concourse; let alone get _through_ it. Kagami looked at his ticket anxiously. His flight was going to be about 10 hours and he could only imagine how much it would drain him. For 10 hours his mind would probably only think about the worst things that could happen to Alex. For 10 hours he would be completely restless and probably pull all his hair out from the stress.

"Oi. You come here often?" A deep, raspy and slick voice broke Kagami out of his thoughts and his eyes widened when he saw who was standing next to him.

"Hey..." Kagami let down his defenses when he saw his boyfriend standing there—not that his defenses weren't already broken—and let himself completely take in all the emotions that he was feeling. He didn't even acknowledge Aomine's witty joke and just sunk further in his chair. It was like a cloud of depression decided to sit itself on Kagami and weigh him down from the outside in. Aomine didn't say anything, just stared at his boyfriend who was obviously in emotional pain.

"Alex... I don't know what it is but she got into an accident and she's hurt real bad.. T-they say she might not..." Kagami was stuttering as he struggled to finish the last sentence. Aomine placed a hand on Kagami's shoulder, forcing the red head to look up at his boyfriend.

"Kagami you're not even there yet... Don't dwell on the bad things okay. You don't know that for sure... And you know how strong Alex is. I doubt she'll go down without a fight." Aomine spoke in a soft voice, acknowledging his boyfriend's emotional state and opened his arms slightly. He was going to ask Kagami about the kiss but at that moment, something like that would hinder the red head even more—and he didn't want to break his boyfriend. Besides, Aomine saw how Kagami pushed Kuroko away from him, so he ignored the feeling to bring it up and just opened his arms out to the red head, who tried to hold back tears as he practically jumped into Aomine's chest, holding him with a tightness that Aomine would never admit he missed. The blunette could feel the jerking muscles from Kagami as he let his emotions completely overtake him,

and he cried.

Not a loud cry, but a deep cry that made its way up from the depths of his chest and out his throat. Tears stung at the corners of Kagami's eyes and made it seem like it was _painful_ for him to cry. Hell it was painful for Aomine to watch someone who was so strong break down like this. And nothing had even happened yet. He started to realize how much his boyfriend actually cared about people. Through his intimidating demeanor, he was just a big ball of love and idiocy. Aomine could feel a pain in his chest as Kagami pulled away from, trying to wipe away the tears before the blunette could see them.

"Sorry.. I.." Kagami didn't know what to say as he suddenly felt flustered. He had never really shown Aomine a side of him like this before, and it surprised them both. Aomine took matters into his own hands as he shushed Kagami, wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes with his thumb.

"I want you to call me everyday... I want to know how you're holding up okay? Remember to eat healthy and sleep. I know how you get when you're anxious, ok? Remember the game we played in the Winter Cup and you told me you didn't get any sleep that night? I don't want a repeat of that. And don't make me miss you too much." Kagami chuckled when Aomine finished his last sentence, and the blunette smiled at finally being able to make his boyfriend feel some kind of emotion besides sadness at this very hour.

"Of course." Was all Kagami said as he wrapped his arms around Aomine's neck and brought his boyfriend's lips to his own. The kiss was tender, almost nonexistent, as they pecked each other's lips with a sweetness that could only be described as compassion. Kagami suddenly pulled away—remembering something—which made Aomine rather disappointed.

"What about the modeling company?" Kagami asked, avoiding eye contact with the blunette. It was rather childish how he acted yesterday when he found out the news, but he still needed to know.

"You know it's funny really.. _ironic_ to be exact. I refused to leave, and now here you are, leaving." Aomine smiled and placed his hand on a startled Kagami's chin, moving his face so he was looking him in the eyes.

"But that's fine because as long as you're okay, I'm okay." Aomine smiled deeply and kissed Kagami on the forehead before moving back, letting Kagami sink in everything before he nodded, grabbing Aomine's hand and holding it tightly.

"Thank you." Kagami said sincerely, smiling up at Aomine who just smiled back. Aomine was about to say something when he saw a speck of light blue in the corner of his eye. The color got more visible and the closer it got, the more Aomine took back what he said earlier about not bringing up the kiss on the stairwell. Because that little ball of light blue happened to be the little shit that had deceived him.

"Kagami-kun!" Kuroko ran up, calling out Kagami's name with such desperation as if the male was walking away from him. Aomine's eyebrow twitched impatiently as he tried to calm his nerves, he didn't want Kagami to get more worked up than he already was. He saw Kagami's expression change from a sincere smile that was directed to him to a surprised grin as he waved at Kuroko. Aomine wondered if Kagami felt any sort of guilt for the kiss on the stairs. Maybe he had and was doing his best to suppress the feeling with having both Aomine and Kuroko there, or maybe he wasn't because he had pushed Kuroko away. Whatever it was he did a good job hiding it when Kuroko finally stood next to them, his breath heavy from having to run from the entrance to where the couple was standing.

"Aomine-kun, Kagami-kun, hello." Kuroko said between breaths as he put his hands on his knees to support himself. Aomine just grunted as his greeting to Kuroko, then turned his face to see Kagami's expression change to a softer grin.

"I'm not leaving just yet Kuroko. You didn't have to run." Kagami chuckled softly as Kuroko stood all the way up, fixing his hair that had gotten messed up.

"Oh. My bad. I came here to see you off. Is everything okay?" Kuroko asked as he glanced back and forth to Kagami and then Aomine. The blunette didn't say anything and just stared at Kagami, who eventually sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Not exactly. Alex isn't doing so well, something serious happened and she's in the hospital. I have to go see how she's doing.." The previous emotional state that Kagami was in started to slowly set its way back, since he started to only think about the worse scenarios for Alex's condition.

"It's not anything serious like cancer right?" Kuroko asked again, keeping his eyes locked on Kagami who shook his head really fast, denying the possibility before he even dwelled on it.

"No-no of course not. The nurse would have at least told me that." Kagami spoke with a shutter in his voice, he _hoped_ that it wasn't that. Anything but that. Anything.

Aomine was absentmindedly listening to Kagami and Kuroko's conversation as he felt his phone vibrate and saw a text message from Kise.

 **Blonde Idiot** : " _AOMINEECHIIIIII. The photoshoot went great! My pictures will be coming in the mail soon~ I'm all the way on the other side of town and this place is scary! (´_ _･_ _Д_ _･_ _)_ _」_ _! Meet me at the mall across from Maji in an hour! You told me to tell you how the photoshoot went so let's talk *:._ _｡_ _. o(≧▽≦)o ._ _｡_ _.:* ! And you have to tell me what happened with Akashicchi! Σ_ _（ﾟ_ _д_ _ﾟ_ _lll_ _）_ _!"_

Aomine chuckled when he read the message and replied back to Kise before he even thought about the consequences.

" _Why so you can rub it in my face how attractive you are? Fine I'll be there. Leaving right now_." Aomine hit the send button and looked up rather quickly to see Kagami and Kuroko still talking. It seems they were talking about breakfast earlier that morning but Aomine didn't really care; he just wanted to show Kuroko that Kagami wasn't interested in him _at all._ He broke their conversation with a loud and annoyed voice.

"Hey babe I gotta go. Kise wants something and your plane boards soon right? You might wanna get to your gate early because there's a lot of people here." Aomine considered as he turned around to look at the lines of people crowded around the security check. Kagami blinked and followed his gaze, and then nodded quickly to Aomine.

"Yeah you're right. I wouldn't want to miss it." Kagami started to get his stuff together, putting away his headphones that he had laid out and picking up his suitcase. Kuroko just nodded at Kagami's statement and was about to say something when he was startled by Aomine who grabbed the red head by the waist and brought him in for a deeper kiss this time. The action earned him a gasp from the Kagami and then a moan and he leaned in as well, their tongues sometimes being visible as they explored each other's mouths. And Kuroko had to stand there, stand there and embrace the literal disgust he was seeing in front of him before he finally coughed, interrupting the two and causing Kagami to blush and Aomine to smirk. The blunette was happy, considering that Kagami responded just the way he wanted him to and he rubbed his finger over his lip seductively.

"Bye babe." Aomine said, waving to Kagami as he started to walk in the other direction. Kagami yelled goodbye back, a little too loudly as his voice was drawing attention to them. Aomine didn't think about saying goodbye to Kuroko and he definitely didn't care about leaving the two alone together because he was sure that Kuroko got the message, and Kagami would be boarding his plane soon anyway.

So with another smirk and a sharp turn, Aomine left the terminal and exited the airport with a little too much pip in his step.

* * *

Kise's golden curls bounced around as he literally skipped down the sidewalk. He was too happy for his own good. But hey, everything was going well for him today and he really had nothing to complain about. Akashi didn't yell at him, his photo-shoot went well, and now he was going to meet up with Aomine. His day was going smoothly and he smiled to himself as girls on the street stared at him. Some giggled, some blushed, and some even had the guts to come up and talk to him.

"Excuse me, are you Kise?" A girl with short black hair asked. He nodded as his reply and quickly picked up her pen and paper, signing his humongous autograph on the blank sheet. Other girls saw this as well and built up enough courage to gather around the model and get autographs from him. While Kise was signing his name on the papers, he was day dreaming about Aomine.

He had come to the realization that he liked Aomine. Every time the tanned male teased him or got close to him, he would blush and feel heat in places he didn't know could get hot. No one had excited him like the blunette did and it was a feeling that was foreign to the blonde. So foreign that the blonde didn't know what he was feeling when it first occurred. Now, he knew that he held a special place for the blunette and was determined to get closer to him. He knew that Aomine was dating Kagami so he wasn't going to be an idiot and be all over someone who had a boyfriend. He just wanted to get closer to Aomine, maybe make Aomine change his mind on his own. That's not bad, _is it_?

"Oi. Sorry ladies, Kise is mine." The husky voice startled Kise, almost making him drop a girls notebook as he finished signing it. Some of the girls gasped at the comment, others just got scared and started to walk away. It was comments like those that made Kise's heart skip a beat. Even though he was most likely joking, Kise hoped that deep down Aomine meant some of the stuff that he teased Kise with. The model let his face get warm as he felt himself blush, smiling up at Aomine as the last group of girls finally left them.

"Aominecchi! You came!" Kise contemplated going in for a hug but was nervous that Aomine would reject him so he just stood there with a huge idiotic grin on his face.

"Yeah cause you wanted me to. Why are we here anyways?" Aomine was confused as to why Kise wanted to meet outside the mall all of a sudden, but he just assumed that the blonde wanted to buy more modeling clothes or something. It was slightly warmer that day, but still a cold breeze sometimes nipped at their skin. Kise had on a dark blue blazer with a light pink shirt on underneath. His pants were a creamy light pink as well and his shoes were dark brown. Kise's curly hair made him look younger—almost cuter— as the curls shaped his face perfectly. He had a light blue scarf on and kept his bare hands in his pants pockets so he wouldn't get too cold.

Aomine on the other hand was just wearing what he always wore, a light woolen shirt, his black hoodie and his dark blue puffy jacket.

"Well Akashi texted me and said to buy some decorations for the party tonight. When we get back to the house we have to help decorate. He sent me a list." Kise held up his phone to Aomine to show him the list of party supplies that Akashi wanted them to get.

"100 bottles of *Henri Jayer Richebourg Grand Cru? WHAT THE HELL THAT WINE IS LIKE *1.8 MILLION YEN PER BOTTLE! IS HE CRAZY?! AND 100 OF THEM?!" Aomine practically screamed when he read the bottle of expensive wine that was listed. Kise just laughed and glanced back at his phone, sliding the screen to something else. He then put the phone back in front of Aomine's rather pale like face and giggled when he saw the blunette's expression change. Aomine breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw that Akashi had given Kise his credit card information.

"I don't even have *5000 yen on me." Aomine said as he felt his face with the back of his hand, all the heat had drained from his face when he read the price.

"Apparently the wine is suppose to make you drunk instantly! And then all of your pure desires come out!" Kise wiggled his fingers in a spooky motion and laughed when Aomine's eyes widened.

"But it's just a rumor! Come on let's go inside before we freeze to death." Kise grabbed Aomine's rather cold hand and dragged him inside the mall, where they would spend hours upon hours looking for the expensive wine.

* * *

Kuroko was beyond pissed. The day was going rather shitty and he just wished he could go into his room and sleep. He missed having little Nigou around since Alex took him back to America a while ago and his only true companion was Kagami. He didn't really talk to people on his old basketball team anymore and he only really hung out with the red head. And now his best friend was leaving and he cursed his luck.

When he went to go say goodbye to his crush, of course his boyfriend had to be there, making everything worse for Kuroko. And then, his boyfriend had to show off and kiss Kagami like that in front of Kuroko—who definitely got the message—which made his heart hurt like hell. And it made it even worse when Kagami moaned into the kiss and let Aomine basically smother him with his saliva.

"UGH!" Kuroko threw down the manual he was looking through that held instructions to a wine fountain assembly. He was so frustrated with everything that happened at the airport that he didn't want to have to come back to the mansion and help with decorations.

"Kuroko, are you okay?" Midorima walked over to the frustrated smaller male who sighed and picked up the manual he had just threw down.

"No. I'm upset because Kagami is leaving." Kuroko huffed out, looking back at the manual. Maybe all of the labor with getting the decorations set up would take his mind off of Kagami.

"Where did he go?" Midorima put down his lucky item that he just so happened to carry in his hand—a small red apple key chain—and assisted Kuroko with the wine fountain.

"America. Alex is sick and he went to go see her." Kuroko gently picked up a piece of the wine fountain, connecting it to some other random piece until the two clicked together.

"Oha Asa told me that this whole week won't be good for Leo's. I hope he is alright." A pause from Midorima as he flipped the pages of the book, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. It was almost too long of a pause, before the air around them started to get stale.

"Kuroko is that who you like?" The seriousness in Midorima's tone shook the smaller make as he hung his head down and messed with the fountain some more. He needed to keep his hands moving; he needed a distraction.

"I thought you already knew, Midorima-kun."

"I just wanted to make sure. And since Kagami is dating Aomine.. I'm guessing that he's the one you're jealous of?" Midorima meant no harm, but the way he spoke made it seem almost tauntingly obvious how emotionally weak Kuroko had become.

Kuroko doesn't speak. He doesn't utter a single word because he can't accept the fact that he's jealous of someone who is as rudely based as Aomine. He who used to be so joyful and is now so self-absorbed. Did he hate himself because the blunette got everything he wanted? Or did he hate the fact that the blunette—despite his bad attitude—easily stole the things in Kuroko's life that he had been working so hard to get. Kuroko's shoulders started to shake with resentment, he couldn't accept it. He just couldn't.

"Kuroko. Do you worry about being alone?" Midorima slammed the manual closed a little too loudly and placed it on the elongated table that the wine fountain was sitting on. Kuroko's eyes got wide at the question and he could feel his stomach turn. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking; but, with what? He didn't know.

"I'm worried about hurting. Hurting comes with a dull ache." Kuroko tried to explain the feeling that was in his stomach, the way it slowly made its way up to his chest and rested in his throat. It was almost hard to talk as he had to physical force himself to move his face muscles.

"He's your best friend but you're not his." The green haired male replied, walking around to the other side of the table and putting batteries into the fountain.

"Well it's sad when you put it that way" Kuroko almost laughed—chuckled even—as he could feel the truth behind Midorima's words. He knew that the taller male didn't say them to hurt him, but it still didn't stop the feeling that once again rose from his stomach to his chest. The lounge had been excessively quiet, since everyone else was setting things up in the kitchen. Murasakibara and Akashi were probably making some finger sandwiches of some sort while the basketball teams were on their respect floors, cleaning their rooms and organizing the hallways. Akashi told everyone that the elevator would be off limits to the guests, however if the guests wanted to use the bathroom they could use it to go upstairs and use the huge restrooms that stood at the end of each hall instead of the personal bathrooms that lie within each individual room.

"Shinnnnn-channnn! Look who I found!" Takao suddenly peeked his head around the corner and revealed a head full of blond curly locks and short blue hair. Takao had walked in with Kise and Aomine, their hands full with plastic bags.

"We have that stupid ass expensive wine Akashi wanted." Aomine lifted up the bags, showing Midorima and Kuroko what was inside.

"Ah yes, the Grand Cru. It is a fine wine indeed." Midorima smirked, closing his eyes and grunting behind his glasses. Takao just slapped his back to snap Midorima out of whatever fantasy he was in.

"Too bad some of us are underage!" Takao laughed and rested his arm on Midorima's shoulder, who glared at the raven haired boy devilishly.

"Nope! Akashi said we can drink as much as we want, so that we "blend in" with the guests! Come on guys we just graduated high school and quit our old basketball lives let's have fun tonight!" Kise cheered, placing down the bags of the expensive wine, which earned him a thumbs up from Takao and a face palm from Aomine.

"Are you sure you're not already drunk Kise-kun?" Kuroko asked, stifling back a small laugh as Kise's eyes got huge.

"Oh Kurokocchi! I missed you so much!" Kise ran up to hug the smaller male, but was stopped by a force on the back of his shirt. He turned his head in confusion and saw that Aomine had grabbed the collar of his shirt, tugging at it for him to stop his foolery.

"We still have work to do. Come on Kise." Aomine basically dragged Kise away, who was yelling and blowing kisses to Kuroko and Midorima. Although it wasn't easy to see, there was a spark of tension between Kuroko and Aomine and as the blunette and blonde male disappeared around the corner, Takao leaned on the table and crossed his arms.

"So that's the guy you're jealous of, huh?"

* * *

It was hell. Literal hell. He was antsy the whole plane ride. A random passenger made small talk with him, asking him what was wrong and why he was restless. Kagami explained the situation in great detail, almost coming to the point of tears because he realized how much he was actually hurting. The stranger nodded and told him to hang in there, telling Kagami that he shouldn't be so strung up.

"Thank you. I'm Taiga. Taiga Kagami. And you are?" Kagami asked the stranger—considering that he just told him his life's story. He figured that he should at least get on a first name basis with the dude.

"Michael. Michael Prescott. You can just call me Mike." Mike smiled at Kagami, flashing his pearly white teeth which made Kagami blush internally. This guy was attractive, and the red head could tell from his slightly tan skin and bright green eyes that he wasn't Japanese. His dirty brown hair was in a bun behind his head and his build was just as muscular as Kagami's. Kagami nodded at his statement and asked Mike what he was doing traveling to America and why he was in Japan.

"Well I'm a business man and I travel the world. I live in American so I'm just going back home for about a month. Then I'll be out in the world again." When Mike explained his occupation, Kagami cooed in aw. He imagined how lovely it would be to travel the world together with Aomine. Just the two of them, going places that he only saw on tv. He then thought about how he made his boyfriend stay in Japan for him; when he could have been in Italy drinking fancy wine with Kise. Kagami cursed his feelings, why did he have to care so much?

The plane ride was hell at first, but after the small conversation with Mike, Kagami felt a little at ease. He was finally able to close his eyes and get take a good nap before they actually landed. The pilot was informing the passengers about the area they just landed in and what the weather was like. Kagami glanced over at Mike, who had the window seat, and then glanced out the window into the open sky.

California was sunny, ridiculously sunny with no hints of cloud in the sky. The weather was beautiful like it always had been and Kagami couldn't wait to get off the damn plane. Mike saw his anxiousness and chuckled a bit, then stood up as the rest of the passengers were leaving.

"Miss it that much?" Mike asked as he reached overhead to get his suitcase, earning a smile from Kagami.

"Yeah.. I have a lot of memories here." Kagami let the sentence roll slowly off his tongue as he thought about Himuro and all his childhood adventures with Alex. The reason for him coming back was a sad one, but he was happy that he was able to see them once again. He grabbed his suitcase and exited the plane with Mike, who then proceeded to talk to Kagami about food. It turned out to be a _very_ long conversation.

"Well Taiga, this is where we separate. It was nice meeting you. Here, if you need me for anything, don't feel obligated but just in case." Mike took out a pen and wrote down his number on Kagami's hand, who took a slight step back in embarrassment.

"Oh uhm, thank you." Kagami replied, feeling a little weird at having someone he just met touch him. Mike just nodded and pointed down the other end of the hallway they were in.

"Don't be a stranger!" He waved as he continued to walk away. A confused look settled its way onto Kagami's face as he glanced down at his hand. Mike had seriously written his phone number with a pen on his hand. Talk about desperate. Kagami quickly shook his head to try and remain on course. He had to go pick up the rest of his luggage at the baggage claim and then call a taxi straight to the hotel. He was informed from Evelyn that Himuro showed up as well. He would get to see his brother and his coach and he couldn't wait. Sadness started to escape him and his body was replaced with excitement as he dashed to the baggage claim. He couldn't wait to see them again.

A couple hours later, and Kagami was running to the lounge of the new hotel he was staying at. He had grabbed his baggage, called a taxi and couldn't resist stopping at McDonalds to get something to eat. When he was little it was the only thing he would eat: 25 McDouble's with 3 large coke's. Everyone who ever saw Kagami order food at McDonald's was either scared and intimidated, or jealous. How could someone be eating so unhealthily and be that good looking? Hell, how could someone even eat that much in the first place?

After he finished his meal he hopped back into the taxi and went to the hotel. And now he was running up to the attendant that was standing behind the counter.

"Hi! Welcome to Embassy Suites how may I help you?" The lady said as she smiled her routine smile.

"Hi I have a reservation for Kagami. If there is none then it's under Himuro." Kagami stated as he looked for his passport in case she needed to see a form of ID.

"Yes we have a reservation under Himuro. Two queen beds on the third floor. May I see some ID please?" She asked as she looked over the counter to see Kagami's passport. She then nodded and proceeded to reach for the room card that would let him in.

"Here's your room card. Breakfast is downstairs every morning at 8 and we have cocktail party's every night at 9. Thank you and enjoy your stay." She waved as Kagami hurriedly stuffed his passport back into his bag and rushed to the elevator. He tapped the buttons and waited patiently for it to arrive. He was so excited to see Himuro again after everything that happened in the past. After all of them graduated, Himuro moved back to America because he was going to a pristine college. He wanted to focus on his studies more than anything else, and Kagami teasingly told him to care for Alex every now and then.

When the elevator reached the third floor, Kagami practically jumped off of it as he searched for his room number. He finally found the room at the end of the hall and stuck his card in, as the door accepted him with a ding as it unlocked. Kagami anxiously put his hand on the doorknob as a wave of emotions came over him. This would be the first time that he would see Himuro in so long. He didn't know what he say. The red head shook his head again, pushing the door open with a brute amount of force and smiling at the sight before him.

"Well well Taiga. Looks like you finally decided to make it." The boy sitting on the couch smiled as he turned off the tv with his remote, standing up and stretching his arms.

"Blame security, Tatsuya." Kagami smiled back and he shut the door and dropped his bags onto the floor.

* * *

 **A/N** ;; okay so this chapter was suppose to be longer but I kind of broke it into two because all the exciting bits happen in the next chapter ;). The party starts and we finally get to find out what's wrong with Alex! And since all of you were wondering where Himuro was, here he is! Sorry I didn't include him earlier. For suspenseful purposes. Plus who is this new guy Mike Prescott. Sounds pretentious. I'm also working on a MidoTaka and MitoKoga one shot and if anyone is interested please tell me because I just have them sitting here in my documents and I don't know if I want to publish them. That in turn means please be patient with this story because the chapters might be coming out slower. I titled this Bathos because nothing really exciting or climactic happens so eh; slight disappointment. But that's okay becAUSE THIS PLOT IS ALL ABOUT BUILDING SUSPENSE. Thank you all for following and favoriting and reviewing. It excites me when people actually appreciate what I'm doing and like where this plot is going. If you see any typos or if something looks off, please let me know. THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE CRAZY TOWN SO BraCE YOURSELF BECAUSE THIS RIDE IS JUST GETTING STARTED.

*A really expensive wine from Nuits de France(Nights of France).

*1.8 million Yen is approx 15k USD. 5000 Yen is approx 40 USD.

-Cryle


	6. Inhospitable

**DISCLAIMER** :: I do not own KNB or it's characters. However I do own this story. Please do not redistribute without permission.

Chapter VI: Inhospitable

* * *

5 centimeters per second. That's how fast a cherry blossom falls from the trees in Japan, and that's how fast Kagami's heart was falling the closer they got to the hospital. His brother Himuro was sitting right next to him, patting the red heads shoulder with his rough hands.

"It's going to be okay. Don't be so nervous." Himuro asked of Kagami, trying to get his brother to remain calm in _some_ way. But the red head couldn't stay still, his fingers messed around with his knuckles and it wasn't until then that he noticed the phone number still on his hand. To try and distract himself from him nervousness, he quickly took out his phone and entered in the contact number and the name as 'Mike'.

"Whose number is that?" Himuro asked, just now noticing the black ink on Kagami's hand.

"Some dude that I met on the plane." Kagami shrugged nonchalantly, he didn't really think anything of it.

"Ooh. He trying to get some?" The smaller boy laughed, brushing his bangs to only half of his face. Kagami looked up, flustered, as to why Himuro would say such things.

"N-no he was just really friendly." Kagami looked down and smiled at his hand, the memory of sharing stories with Mike coming back into his mind.

After Kagami got Mike's number he dashed straight for the hotel, and was greeted by his brother who commented wittingly on his late arrival. The two had hugged and talked about how they missed each other and how they wish they lived near one another. When they got to talk about Alex however, Kagami's percentage in the conversation dropped. He still couldn't come to terms with the situation, and it showed deeply through his dialect and emotions.

"So how's Aomine? Are you still madly in love?" Himuro questioned with a smiling face and a teasing voice, which made the red head blush softly.

"Y-yeah. Before I left he told me how he wanted me to call him everyday. And how despite w-whatever happens, he wants me to eat healthy and sleep well." Kagami choked when he realized that "whatever happens" meant the possibility of Alex not making it. He didn't want to even acknowledge it. Himuro nodded when Kagami explained what Aomine had said, and he tried to focus the conversation on Aomine; because he knew that Kagami was happy whenever the blunette was mentioned and it hurt him severely to see his brother in so much pain.

"Remember when you told me about how you two went to the water park and everyone was looking at you guys because you played basketball in the tidal pool that was there?" Himuro chuckled while he glanced up ahead, noticing that the taxi was right in front of the hospital. Before Kagami could reply with the small smile that was growing on his face from the memory, the taxi driver stopped the car and looked into the back seats.

"We're here." He said blatantly as Himuro pulled out some bills to pay with. He cursed under his breath as he saw Kagami's eyes go wide with fear of what may lie inside the hospital. So much for trying to take his mind off of things.

Kagami slowly exited the taxi with his eyes glued onto the hospital. He wanted to see Alex so bad, but he also was afraid of what might lay behind the glass doors of the hospital.

"Come on Taiga. Alex is waiting." Himuro put his hand on his brother's shoulder and nodded with a firm tone in his voice. He had to stay strong, even if the red head wasn't. Kagami looked back at his brother with wide eyes and was barely able to give a reply before Himuro grabbed his arm and dragged him inside the hospital.

It smelt like embalming chemicals and antiseptics when Kagami inhaled his first breath after he entered the glass doors. He looked around and was greeted by different nurses focused on individual tasks. He had been to a hospital only once in his life: it was when he was very little and his mom had a yeast infection. The only thing he remembers is the vast expanses of white walls and white doors and white floors.

"May I help you two?" A lady behind the counter said, putting down the phone that was in her hand and smiling sweetly at Himuro.

"Ah yes. We're here to see a patient. Her name is Alexandra Garcia." Himuro said, and Kagami could only nod as he was still taking in the surroundings of the room they were in. The nurse typed away at her computer until the screen lit up and Kagami could see the reflection in her glasses. Alex's profile was lit up on the screen. The bright blonde pixels almost made Kagami want scream. He had to see Alex. He had to see her.

"Ah yes. Go to the right and down the hallway until you see an elevator. Take it up to the third floor and talk to one of the nurses there. She'll lead you to the room. Thank you. Visiting hours close in about 3 hours." The nurse smiled once again and Himuro mouthed an almost inaudible reply, but Kagami couldn't hear him as he had already made his way to the hallway.

"Hey Taiga wait!" Himuro called out, running up to Kagami. Kagami didn't stop however, and when he reached the elevator and waited for it to open, Himuro finally caught up to him.

"What's up with you? Why are you suddenly so determined" Himuro question sincerely as the door to the elevator opened, and the brothers both walked in.

"I want to see Alex." Was Kagami's only reply as he stared straight ahead. He didn't know why, and he didn't know when but he felt the urge to stomp his way through the hallway and straight to Alex's room. The nervous feeling that he felt earlier melted away as he was overcome with resolve.

Himuro just chuckled at his brother as the elevator door opened and as they walked into the hall, nurses were standing behind a elongated counter. Some were writing, some were walking to various rooms and some were typing on the computers. The brothers walked up to the counter and this time it was Kagami who spoke first.

"We're here to see Alexandra Garcia." Kagami's stern voice might have come off an intimidating to whoever heard it, but the nurse that was behind the counter gasped and looked up with a glint of some kind of emotion in her eye.

"Oh Taiga!" The nurse said as she ran from behind the counter and went to hug Kagami. Himuro was more taken aback than Kagami was, who just stood there frozen with a look of fear and confusion on his face. When the nurse finally pulled away, Kagami noticed her name tag and recognized the voice as he tied it in with the name.

"E-evelyn?.." Kagami asked, looking at the nurse in person for the first time. Evelyn was beyond gorgeous as he traced his eyes over her body. She had milky brown hair that was tied into a bun with greenish-gray eyes and petit lips. Her body curved like an hourglass and her skin was slightly lighter than Kagami's own tanned skin. She smiled happily at him and waved to Himuro-who was still slightly shocked- and pulled the clipboard she had left on the counter up to her chest.

"Yes it is me! Hi! I've been waiting for you two to come. And so has Alex. We've gotten along great." Evelyn's earlier professional tone had wavered from her voice and was now filled with bounciness as she giggled at the two males in front of her.

"Calling people by their first name is considered rude in Japan if you don't really know them, Ms. Evelyn." Himuro stated, kind of rudely, as he wondered what kind of relationship Kagami had with her. Evelyn just laughed and pointed her finger in Kagami's face.

"But I do know him personally. We talked on the phone, plus I paid for his flight and I paid for his share in the hotel room with you." Evelyn smiled, shutting Himuro up as he just stared back at her. Kagami was getting annoyed with the conversation so he spoke up about the matter that was currently at hand. Irritation, tension and impatience nipped at his tongue and he was seized with the impulse to start shouting, but withstood it at once, staring at the woman before him.

"Please. Take us to her." Kagami asked, more like demanded, before he would lose his mind from the anticipation. Evelyn only nodded, a sharp look forming in her eyes as she turned on her heels and started walking down the hall. Kagami and Himuro followed, the clamminess that stayed hidden from Himuro finally found its way to his hands and Kagami could feel it too as he was lead right in front of the door that Alex was laying behind.

"I'll go get the doctor so we can tell you about what happened." Evelyn walked off without saying another word. She left the two brothers to stand in front of the room, antsy couldn't even describe what they were feeling. Kagami swallowed the invisible lump that nestled its way into his throat and put his hand on the door knob, opening it painfully slow. It clicked with apprehension and the hinges cracked with agitation, making the red head's distress rise to new levels of antsiness. Himuro put his hand on Kagami's back to reassure him and the door was slowly cracked open. First only two green chairs were visible, and then a window that shed the evening sun through it, and then a mattress, and then a body that lay upon that mattress until the door was fully opened.

Nothing could have prepared Kagami for this. There Alex was, her skin pale and her face skinnier than the last time Kagami had saw her. Even her bright blonde hair seemed to look duller as she opened her emerald eyes to her visitors. Her hot pink glasses were folded and laying gently on the nightstand.

"Taiga... Tatsuya. If I could get up I would kiss both of you boys right now." Kagami's eyes got wide and tears sat in the corners of them as he blinked, perturbed and happy at the same time. Hell, he might of felt so happy that he would've let Alex kiss him.

"A-alex." Kagami and Himuro both stuttered her name in unison, earning a laugh from the sickly woman.

"Do I look that bad? Damn I would've at least thought you'd be happy to see me." Alex smiled weakly and extended her arms from under the hospital bed covers. Kagami bit his lip and tried his hardest not to cry but the amount of emotions he was feeling couldn't be hidden as both Himuro and himself ran up to each individual side of the bed to hug Alex. Kagami used to remember how strong Alex's grip was when she hugged or tried to kiss him and he made a mental note of how weak she felt now; her arms were barely putting any force around him.

Before they could reminisce however, a tall brooding man with a combover walked in, accompanied by Evelyn; who smiled sweetly at them. The brooding man was second to the shortest person in the room but that didn't stop his demeanor from being anything less than dominant. His green eyes scanned over them before resting upon Kagami and Himuro.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Lee Davis. Are you two Ms. Garcia's brothers?" Doctor Davis asked, then extended his hand to shake with both of the boys. The tension in the air started to blanket the room and smother it with apprehension as the boys nodded and made their way to sit at the green chairs. When Kagami glanced at Evelyn's face, it was no longer beaming with bubbliness. All signs of effusion was gone from her face as a stone hard expression rested their instead. The red head suddenly got a queasy feeling in his stomach and he had to brace himself by putting both arms on each side of the arm rests in the chair.

"I'm happy you could make it. Alex was in a terrible accident that we helped her recover from. But that isn't the main issue." The doctor spoke and his words felt like lava. No, they felt like molasses that was burning a hole through Kagami's heart.

He knew something was wrong, he knew it since the beginning of it all when he got the phone call and felt like he needed to puke.

"Alex here," the words were slow, smooth and picked with the best tenderness that Kagami could've sworn the doctor was pitying them.

"Got in a car accident. Not too severe. Just minor cuts and some deep bruises and a broken rib. But what we found when we were examining her was far too shocking." The doctor cleared his throat as if preparing himself for the deep reveal. Kagami glanced over at Himuro whose eyes were glazed over. With fear? Hallucination? Despair? Doubt?

He could feel his own heart beating and as he looked up at Alex's smiling, pale face. He already knew the answer before it was coming. It was in the back of his mind and he never spoke about it except for that one time at the airport.

 _"It's not anything serious like cancer right?" Kuroko asked again, keeping his eyes locked on Kagami who shook his head really fast, denying the possibility before he even dwelled on it._

"...she has lung cancer." The doctor spoke with a solid tone in his voice that showed how experienced and desensitized he was to revealing news that meant ultimate death.

And ultimate death it did bring. Not only to Alex, but to the two boys sitting in the chairs and frozen like a deer in the headlights. Not even a single strand of hair moved out of place as their minds tried to process the freight and their bodies tried to connect to the fear.

"N-no. Y-you're lying. This is a j-joke." Himuro choked on his own words as denial forced its way through his throat. His eyes burned for release because he didn't blink at all since the doctor started talking. The tears fell down without warning and Himuro had to put his hand over his mouth to stop the screaming pains from escaping his lips. But still throughout all the terror that was going through his body, he glanced at Kagami to see how his brother was holding up.

To his amazement, his brother was just sitting there, staring into nothingness as his mind worked slower to accept what the hell the doctor just said. _Cancer_? No that cant be right? Car accident? Yeah that seems reasonable. Alex was always a clumsy person. Bruises and a broken rib? That's okay. **Lung** cancer? There's no way. There's no way. There's no way. There's no way.

 _There's no way._

 ** _There's no way._**

"KAGAMI." Himuro slapped Kagami hard on the side of the cheek, and the red head yelped with surprise as he was welcomed back to reality from whatever state he was in.

"Kagami are you okay?..." Alex asked weakly from her position on the bed. She held out an arm to her former student and watched as the terror filled his face and form every wrinkle in the book. Depression tore its way through his mouth as his lips deformed as his nose crinkled and his eyebrows smashed and his face darkened. He suddenly started to cry as he rushed over to Alex's side and took a hold of her feeble hand.

"A-Alex..." Was the only thing he could muster as he held onto the side of the hospital bed with Alex shushing him and rubbing his back. Himuro watched as his brother broke down and he placed his head in his hands to stop his own breakdown.

"H-how?... She doesn't smoke. I've studied medicine long enough to know that." Himuro questioned as he finally looked up at the doctor and then over at Alex who was still trying to calm down Kagami.

"It's very rare that patients get lung cancer without having even touched a cigarette in their lives. But it still happens. Have you heard of Radon Gas Mr. Himuro?" The doctor questioned, putting all his attention towards Himuro since he was the only one really responsive at that moment. Alex rubbed Kagami's back some more and tried to get him to pay attention as to _why_ she got lung cancer but the read head was not responding at all. Himuro only responded with a slight nod.

"It's kind of same thing as Asbestos." The dark haired male said before the doctor nodded and continued talking.

"Radon Gas can travel up through soil and enter homes through gaps in the foundation, pipes, drains and other openings. It is also invisible and odorless. So it's practically a living radiation bomb. What we think happened here is that the Radon Gas somehow traveled through Alex's home. This probably went on for months without her knowing, until she got in a car accident a few days ago. That accident led to her being admitted here and when we x-rayed her to see if any bones were broken, we found cancerous tumors in both of her lungs. The cancer was hidden for so long that it developed to stage 4." The doctor finished with a slight cough and a shift of weight on his other leg. Alex looked over at Himuro and spoke softly, as if to answer his question earlier.

"The irony." She said as she began to stop rubbing Kagami's back.

"It's stage 4... And we both know there's not a stage 5 don't we?" The doctor asked Himuro as he remember his declaration of studying the medicine field earlier. Himuro wanted to punch him for being a smartass but he also wanted to curl in on himself at the same time.

"There's nothing we can do now. It's gone too far without being treated. No treatment plan that we have can work for her. It's just a matter of time." Evelyn sighed as she began to walk out of the room with the doctor. Every click of her heel against the marble floor echoed like a thousand chainsaws in Kagami's ears.

"We'll leave you three alone. We'll be back later to check up on her. My guess is that she only has a couple hours. Maybe a day at tops." She said once again before slowly closing the door and leaving the room filled with a tornado of emotions.

* * *

"Okay everyone. Listen up! The butlers are greeting the guests now. People from all over the world are here, including Kise's modeling company. I want everyone on their best behavior, and if I catch anyone that isn't. Well, let's just say that this will be the last event you ever attend. Don't disappoint me." Akashi's gaze slid over everyone as he spoke, not missing a single beat. His eyes were emphasized by his dark suit and his stance made him seem like he was the tallest and more dominant figure in the room. It was 7 in the evening and the first guests were just starting to arrive. The chatting of the people and clanking of glasses could be heard from inside the small room in the lounge labeled "Employees only". Although no one really worked at the mansion unless a held event was being held like today, Akashi ordered the room to be a small lounge for the people living here. In case they needed to talk about a specific thing without disturbance; just like they were doing now.

The current people that were in the room was the Generation of Miracles, Momoi; who reluctantly wouldn't let go of Aomine's arm since she wanted to dance with him and Takao-who like Momoi-was clinging to Midorima. Akashi was standing in the front with her dark black suit and red tie draped over his body. Everyone had suits on except for Momoi and Akashi made sure they were dressed to perfection. Much to Midorima and Murosakibara's annoyance, Akashi made all the males slick their hair back with an abundant amount of gel. It was kind of hilarious to Aomine, because now Midorima really did look like a carrot top. Even Takao's hair was slicked back but that was probably because Midorima didn't want to be the only one wearing it in the relationship. Kise was more than happy to oblige and Aomine scoffed when Kise groomed himself earlier that afternoon, he had smeared gel all on his hair and he was looking like a wanna-be greaser. It was kind cute, since the personality didn't match him; but Aomine would never say that out loud. Kuroko just silently went along with everything and was looking as sharp as ever when Akashi and the tailor maids he hired were done with him. Slick blue tie with a navy blue suits and comb back hair, Kuroko honestly looked like he belonged out their with all those pretentious bigots. Aomine didn't know if he should laugh and feel offended that Kuroko could look so decent.

The nods from everyone in the room elicited a smile from Akashi's face as they slowly exited, joining the rest of the people in the lounge. The sound of shoes on marble and swooshing of wine filled Aomine's ears and he could've sworn that his ear drums were going to burst from the mass of it all. He was tired, and all he wanted to do was sleep his grogginess away. After Kise and him went shopping for the decorations, he came back to Z and had to help unload everything. When he saw Midorima and Takao with the small light blue headed deceiver, his mood soured greatly. He didn't feel like seeing Kuroko and he definitely didn't feel like confronting him about the kiss.

Ultimately, Aomine was upset about the whole situation. Why wasn't he madder than he felt? Why didn't he rage at Kuroko and beat the shit out of him like the people on television? Was it because he was used to cheating that he didn't feel as if it was _that_ bad? Why did Kagami decide to keep the act hidden from him? Because he didn't want him to get upset? Because he didn't want him to get mad, even though Kagami pushed Kuroko away? Because he didn't want to hurt his feelings? And why the hell did they seem so relaxed when the three of them were together? Was the kiss a spur of the moment thing? Had Kuroko even meant the things he did? Did he secretly like Kagami for all these years? The blunette was just fed up. He didn't like to have so many questions with only so many answers. But he wasn't just upset because of the lack of understanding. He was mainly upset because his close friend had gone behind his back-deliberately-and kissed his boyfriend. He was secretly hurt, but he wouldn't let anyone know that.

"Dai-chan, let's dance!" Giggled Momoi as she dragged a unenthusiastic Aomine across the glittering floor. His navy blue suit reflected the flamboyant colors that filled the room instantly and Momoi even went as far as giving Aomine a pink bow tie to match her pretentious prom looking dress. They still; however, didn't stand out in the crowd. The business men and stock marketers and agents and their wives had elegant attire that attracted everyone's eyes. The ties with white undershirts and clear buttons and the dresses with sparkling jewels and translucent ribbons captured the attention of everyone as they laughed and stuck their pinky fingers out and sipped Grand cru with their over gelled hair and cologne clouded minds.

"Oi Satsuki slow down." Aomine called out ahead of him as the ball of pink rushed towards the middle of the lounge-which fantastically enough was turned into some kind of ball room-in front of him. He didn't want to be here but he didn't want to be kicked out either. Momoi just giggled as she slowed down once they stood under the humongous chandelier.

"You don't want to be here. Why?" Momoi asked as she read Aomine's face like a book. She slowly grabbed his left hand with her right, and put her left arm on his shoulder. He sighed, seeing how she wasn't going to take no for an answer, and put his left hand around her upper back.

"You know I don't like loud places. And I miss Kagami already. I just hope he's okay." He said as he started to slowly move his legs to the rhythm. Step back... Step right... Step forward... Step left. Twirl, twirl, hold her hand, back to step one. The cycle repeated in Aomine's mind as he robotically danced with Momoi. Although she was having fun, Aomine's mind was in a completely different place. The only thing that brought him out of his thoughts was when the over-exaggerated band that Akashi hired had stopped playing. People who were dancing clapped and bowed as they made their way back to their tables.

Aomine exhaled, his feet were starting to hurt.

"Satsuki how the hell do girls wear heels for long periods of time? My feet are starting to kill me now." He spoke in a teasing tone as Momoi laughed, and then abutptly stopped when she saw a flash of blue in her vision.

"I have to dance with Tetsu! Bye Dai-Chan!" And just like that she was gone, before Aomine could even process the situation. The blob of pink that was Satsuki slowly dissolved into the crowd and Aomine just shook his head. It was just like her to that something like that.

"Aaaaoooommmiiinneeecchhhiii!" Kise slurred on his words as he hiccuped into his mouth, walking over to Aomine with his other arm around Midorima. A confused look settled across the blunettes face and unlike Midorima; Kise was amused when looking at it.

"He's already had 4 wine bottles. It's literally been 5 minutes." Midorima clocked his tongue and tried to pry Kise off of him, but it was to no avail. The blonde pouted and leaned all of his weight on Midorima. Aomine found this extremely hilarious and was almost going to burst out into laughing before he noticed that someone's presence was not there.

"Where's Takao?" The blunette asked as he eyed Kise trying to kiss Midorima on the cheek.

"Trying to find some NON alcoholic drinks." Midorima emphasized as he pushed Kise off, who then jerkily made his way to Aomine instead. He wrapped his arms around the taller male and leaned his head into his neck.

"Aominechhiiii, Midorimacchhii is being meaaannnieeeeeee." Aomine chuckled at Kise's broken sentence and patted his head softly.

"Nah I just think he wants to be with his boyfriend. It's okay Midorima I can take Kise from here. Satsuki ditched me anyways haha." Aomine smirked when he remember Satsuki's sudden disappearance earlier and was only given a nod in reply as Midorima turned away to look for his boyfriend.

"Aominecchii... You're warm." Kise snuggled into Aomine's side and they were starting to cause a scene as the guests looked over at them with hushed whispers and judging eyes.

"Great they all had to be homophobic didn't they." Aomine cursed under his breath. He was about to just go upstairs and leave Kise by himself when his phone started to ring. He took it out of his suit pocket and saw that it was from Kagami and immediately wished he was upstairs in the quiet confinements of his room.

"Kagami? Hello can you hear me? H-hold on I'm going upstairs!" Aomine said rather loudly to the phone; making Kise grunt in response and cling to him tighter. All he could hear was broken sentences and he decided that if Akashi wanted to kick him out then so be it, he was leaving this party. With Kise practically glued to his arm he sighed and made his way to the elevator before smashing the buttons and waiting for it to open.

He dragged Kise-who almost tripped walking in the elevator-next to him and quickly pounded the button for his floor. The elevator door closed painfully slow and Aomine spoke back into his phone.

"Babe can you hear me?... Yeah I was just in the middle of the party. Oh it's going great I guess; if you mean Akashi then yes he's happy so it's going great. I'm on the elevator.. Yeah Kise is drunk as balls. He's slipping and slurping and stumbling all over the place. Me? I'm fine I'm fine... You don't sound alright babe. Did something happen?" Aomine waiting questioningly for his boyfriend to respond to him and when he didn't, he knew exactly what had happened.

As soon as his mind grasped onto the concept of what made his boyfriend sound so dead inside, the elevator door opened and Aomine had to double check that the ding noise made from the machine wasn't in his head. Had Alex really been that sick?

"Oh my God... B-babe..." The blunette didn't know what to say, he was stunned. The worst had happened and he wasn't there to physically and emotionally comfort his boyfriend. Kise being slung to his arm didn't help either and it made the whole situation seem less severe.

"Yeah, go get some rest. And make sure you eat okay?... I'm sorry. I wish I was there.. Yeah. I miss you too. Okay... Okay. I love you too. Okay bye." Aomine hung up with a sigh and shoved his phone back into his suit pocket before practically yelling at Kise.

"Kise can you please let go of me for one second! Alex is dead!" Aomine pushed Kise's shoulder who stumbled back at first, putting his weight on the wall that was across from the blunette. He then stood up, slightly grabbing at his stomach. Aomine could tell that the blonde was already starting to regret drinking so much wine.

"W-what?... Kagami's t-teacher? She died?" Kise's half glazed eyes told Aomine that he was regaining some kind of composure since he understood what was going on. He put his hand over his mouth, wether in surprise and fear or to throw up, Aomine didn't know. He just watched as the blonde ran down the hall to the open bathrooms and shook his head.

"I'll go get you a towel." Aomine yelled as he walked to his room to unlock the door. When he stepped inside he was welcomed with a cold breeze and a light leather smell that he was all too familiar with. When he was downstairs he missed the smell of his room and the softness of his sheets.

He went into his bathroom and pulled out a light towel, draping it over his shoulder. He slowly walked and sat down on the side of his bed, the reality of what Kagami said hit him. Even though he didn't know the lady very well, he could tell that she meant a great deal to Kagami and something like this happening was enough to break a person, especially soft-on-the-inside hard-on-the-outside Kagami. He sulked lower into the bed, he really wanted to be there for his boyfriend at that moment. The blunette just wanted to curl up with him and hug him and kiss his face all over and tell him how it was going to be okay and attend the funeral with him and pack up his stuff and fly back to Japan with him.

But he couldn't. And the truth that they were across the world scared him. The tanned male was broken out of his thoughts when he felt the bed sink lower next to him and he glanced over at Kise; who's gelled hair seemed to not move at all during his visit to the bathroom and possibly one out of the many stops with his head in the toilet.

"Here." Aomine spoke as he jerked his chin to the towel sitting on his shoulder. Kise nodded and the grabbed it, wiping his mouth off and putting the towel down on the floor.

"Aominecchi... I'm s-sorry." Kise seemed slightly composed now although he was still slurring his words and had his head downwards, occasionally looking from the bed sheets to Aomine. The blunette just sighed and wanted to ruffle Kise's hair to tell him it was alright but remembered the pounds of gel that currently sat there.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Aomine gently looked over at Kise, who in this particular moment, looked like someone who could be taken advantage of. His eyes were half lidded and his mouth hung openly slightly. His gelled hair still hold his place while his tie was unfastened, his collarbone being exposed. If Aomine didn't know better, he would say that he Kise looked rather hot, but he shook his head from the thought as the guilt from Kagami's earlier pain on the phone traveled through his core.

Although, he would admit that if he was his old self, he probably would've pushed Kise up against the wall and fucked him senseless right there. But he wasn't, and he valued their friendship. So he just watched Kise as he slowly made his way closer to the blunette, his hands inching forward and his body following.

"I can make you f-feel better Aomineecchhiii." Kise hissed and slurred after he pressed his face against Aomine's neck, licking and nipping at his nape. This earned a gasp from Aomine who quickly went to move away, but was stopped by two hard hands on his shoulders. Kise moved his face in front of Aomine's and their noses were merely centimeters apart. The blunette could smell the wine ease its way out of Kise's mouth along with the stench of stomach acid and it almost made him want to puke himself.

"Break me." Kise stated sternly, not moving an inch from his current position. His dominance startled Aomine-who fell back on his elbows. He felt something slip out of his pocket but he didn't have time to check because Kise took this as an advantage to maneuver his way on top of Aomine and he straddled him, still keeping his face far too close to the blunette's.

"W-what?" Aomine stuttered, not breaking eye contact with the blonde. His mind was slurred as he tried to grasp at the situation that was unfolding before him. Kise was-sloppily-throwing himself onto Aomine and the tanned male would've laughed at the irony if he wasn't confused shitless. Usually he would be the one throwing himself onto someone, or at least teasing them until they begged him to fuck them.

"Destroy me.. I want you to destroy me. In pieces, recklessly, sloppily... Anything's fine." Kise giggled as he breathed down Aomine's neck and started to lick the same spot he was nipping at earlier. He gripped the bedsheets and when he didn't get a reaction from the taller male, he slowly pushed his hips into Aomine's, hoping to receive a moan from him.

And he did.

But just as soon as it escaped his mouth, Aomine's sense came back to him and he forcefully pushed Kise off of him, making the model fall off the bed and the bed sheets roll with him from his tight grasp on them. He landed on the floor at the end of the bed with a thud and he frowned, rubbing the back of his head.

"What the FUCK are you doing Kise? What the ACTUAL FUCK?!" Aomine yelled-he was furious now-wanting to know what the hell got into Kise's system to make him throw himself on the blunette like that.

"A-Aominecchi. You don't want me?" Kise stood up and his frown deepened, the pain clearly evident in his eyes but Aomine didn't care. Was Kise feigning sympathy when the tanned male told him that Alex had passed? Because of his quick attitude change, Aomine glared at Kise from across the room. He took in his words slowly. Kise had liked Aomine? No way in hell. They always had a close relationship and picked on each other but never like this. Aomine's mind scattered through all the times he had teased Kise and cursed himself. Maybe he was too playful, he never meant to lead Kise on. It technically wasn't his fault though right? It's not like he _knew_ Kise liked him and was teasing him.

"What the hell? you know I'm dating Kagami." He had literally just been on the phone with his boyfriend and he knew that Kise was playing dumb. Maybe the alcohol was clouding his system and he couldn't think straight. Remembering earlier today how Kise said the wine could bring out your deep desires, Aomine laughed. So that's what Kise wanted all along huh? For Aomine to fuck him against the wall. The tone in Kise's voice changed slightly and he was suddenly more stern. He picked up his phone that fell out of his pocket into the blankets and huffed.

"Oh come on. Can't I change your mind? You never know, you might want to be with a model. I learned some tricks along the way and I can make you feel good." Kise was now walking closer to Aomine, his voice filled with some kind of tone that the blunette couldn't pin point. He decided to say the next logical thing before the situation got out of hand.

"Get the fuck out. Now." He grunted, taking a step back as Kise took a step forward. The tension in the room had increase and Aomine was holding himself back from physically picking up the blonde and throwing him out.

"B-but Ao-"

"GET YOUR DRUNK ASS OUT OF MY ROOM RIGHT NOW." Aomine was sure that if he was on the first floor, he would've grabbed the attention of everyone at the party. His throat already felt abnormally dry and his voice held a deep scratch that only he could have when he was pissed. Kise flinched at the increasing volume in his voice and held his hands up, admitting his inevitable defeat.

"Fine. I'll just g-go fuck Kasamatsu." He turned swiftly on his heel and tried to leave the room having spoke the last word. But Aomine beat him to it.

"Bye." He scowled as he followed Kise before slamming the door in his face. He put his face in his hands and felt as if he wanted to scream. What the hell was happening? First Alex dies, then Kise basically tries to rape him. He looked into his dresser mirror and the anger welling up inside of him only grew. He looked ridiculous. His gelled hair turned crusty from the dryness and his bow tie was slightly disheveled. He ripped off the bow tie and kicked off his shoes, laying down on his blanket-less bed. He didn't feel like getting back up so he just laid there and tried to unscramble all the thoughts that were flying around in his mind. He faintly heard the sound of the expensive band playing classical music from the lounge and stuffed his face into his pillow. Tonight was gonna be a long night, he could tell.

* * *

He laughed while he spun her around, her intoxicating voice of bubbles drifted through the air and blended in with the classical music. Her body swayed to the rhythm and her hair twirled with her hips as the sound of the music infused into his mind until the only thing he could think about was matching the beat with his body.

"Come on Tetsu-kun! Move your hips more!" Momoi giggled as she watched Kuroko try to move his body like she was.

"Sorry Momoi-san. I'm not as graceful as you are." As the music stopped so did Kuroko's attempts and Momoi's laughter.

He had been walking around aimlessly all night, trying to find something to do to keep his mind off of Kagami. He was debating going to his room but decided against it because he knew Akashi would hunt him down later for it. He was going to go make small talk with Murasakibara when he saw Momoi running up to him with her pink hair and over-the-top pink dress. He knew that she would want to dance with him and despite his constant attempts of telling her that he loved dick, he decided to be a gentleman and dance with her anyways.

So now here he was, finishing up his dance with Momoi and making a fool out of himself. But she didn't judge, only giggle and playfully punch his arm-which always resulted in the same "ow" that made it way from Kuroko's lips.

When Momoi told him that she was going to meet up with a close friend, he hugged her goodbye and saw the blush rise up on her cheeks as she ran off, too carried away by her happiness to notice the awkward looks she was getting from the pretentious bystanders.

Kuroko sat down at a nearby table and took in his surroundings. The glittering floor, the gigantic chandelier, the sparkling wine, it was all so ostentatious. Something would grab your attention, then you would be directed to something else, then back over o where you started. Kuroko closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to process everything; it almost gave him a headache. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt his phone ring. He took a sip of his punch that was building condensation on the table before pulling his phone out and seeing that he received a text message from Kagami.

 _"It's too late to try and forget about him tonight."_ Kuroko thought as he opened up the message and wondered how Kagami was dealing with the hospital visit.

 **Kagami-kun** : "Kuroko... They told Himuro and I that she had cancer... And she just passed. Um... I might be down here for another week. For the funeral. Um.. Yeah. I don't really care about the kiss. Uhm, that's not on my list of priorities right now. I'll call you later. I'm about to head back to the hotel for tonight." When Kuroko read the text he gasped at the information, eyes going wide and re-reading the text over and over.

Was she really gone? Had it really been that fast? Kagami just got to America, and already she was gone. There's no way. There's no way she's gone. How could the cancer have developed so quickly that she could just be gone that fast.

He was in denial, just as much as Kagami had been hours ago but he just couldn't accept it. The crowd around him felt as if they were growing and growing; their laughs and taunting words echoed through his head before he put his hands over his ears.

They were in his head. The voices were in his head. The group of people glaring towards him from their high horses. Their faces contorted with lips as big as their foreheads and eyes as small as their lips.

"Is he going to be okay?" He heard a girl-most likely only a little older than himself-ask with fear in her voice. Her voice repeated over and over until it screeched and sounded like a broken record. He hadn't realized it but he had been clutching his head, almost curled up in a ball where he sat near the round table. People were staring now, shit, he was causing a scene.

"Maybe someone should get the host. Where is Mr. Seijuro?" A foreigner hissed loudly and Kuroko could've sworn that he was right next to his ear. Shit shit shit he didn't want to drag Akashi into this. He was gritting his teeth, desperately trying to clear his mind of his ever growing headache and slowly sat up. The smile he put on his face could've fooled anyone as he brushed a fallen strand of hair out of his face and gripped his punch eagerly.

"S-sorry I just had too much to drink." Kuroko tried to ease the concerned crowd that was making their way over to him; carefully, as if to not frighten a wounded animal. Someone just scoffed and insulted him, probably saying that he should know his alcohol limit, and the crowd slowly began to disperse. They acted like the young blue haired male was the one that asked for help. With a hand grasping at his head again, Kuroko lightly got up and made his way through the crowds of random people. He could pick up different conversations and ever syllable with every increase in pitch and amplitude made his head pound.

He didn't know why, but his head increasingly hurt the longer he stayed around the flashing lights and glittering floor.

"Kuro-chin." A familiar deep voice reached Kuroko's ears as he looked up and saw a flushed Murasakibara, probably with too much to drink, looking down at him.

"Are you okay? Can you stand?" He asked, and it was only then that Kuroko realized that he had been leaning on Murasakibara. He thanked the gods that it was someone he knew and not some random party-goer or hell would most likely be raised. Kuroko felt something trail down his face and he touched his cheek, feeling the wet but warm liquid running down the crevices of his hand.

"Why are you crying Kuro-chin?" The purple haired giant asked, bending down slowly and wiping a tear from Kuroko's cheek. Kuroko slightly gasped and rubbed his eyes, trying to clean his face from the salted tears.

"I-I don't know. I'll be okay." Kuroko slowly inhaled and exhaled, making sure that he looked stable before looking up at his friend. Of course Mura was eating cake pops from the kitchen and couldn't care less about the Rey of the party, but he looked slightly different.

Upon closer inspection-despite the glittering distractions that danced around the room-Kuroko could tell that his friend was flushed. Had he had too much to drink? Mura kept chewing his cake pop and held one out for Kuroko, who nodded with indifference at the offer and gave gentle nibble at the sweet cake. It was vanilla flavored-his favorite of course-with sprinkles on top and a touch of strawberry in the middle.

"I thought Kuro-chin might like it." Mura said, and Kuroko was about to thank him when he realized that Murasakibara wasn't talking to him. He looked over at the body next to the purple haired male and his eyes opened widely. Akashi stood there, with his deep eyes and poisonous smile. Next to him were a couple of taller, thinner males that seemed half as less serious than their outfits lead on.

"Murasakibara, Kuroko, I'd like you to meet the managers of Seven Models. Pat Morrow and Waniko Seno. They have been working with Seven models for five years." Akashi greeted his two childhood friends to the managers and kept his poisonous smile glued to his face. Murasakibara instantly gulped and tried his best to wipe the crumbs of cake off of his mouth. Kuroko glanced at him suspiciously. He guessed that Akashi told Murasakibara to be polite and not eat while talking to others.

It certainly paid off, because as soon as Mura finished wiping his face he bowed respectably to the managers and excused himself, most likely secretly going back to the kitchen to get more sweets.

"He has a bit of a sweet tooth." Akashi smiled and let out a bitter laugh, trying to excuse Murasakibara for leaving so soon. Both of the managers laughed softly, flashing their straight rows of teeth that probably took years and a mouth full of metal to obtain.

"It's quite alright." Waniko laughed and took a quick sip of his wine. His pinky extended when he lifted the glass to his thin lips and Kuroko had to secretly pinch himself to stop from laughing.

"I wouldn't blame him. The food here is excellent. From the *Mattake to the *Almas Caviar, it's all divine." Pat smiled graciously to Akashi, sipping his own drink slowly. His crisp black hair was gelled back like every other male in the room and he looked slightly older than Waniko, his wrinkles slightly appearing when smiling. Kuroko just smiledo along with them and was going to excuse himself to go upstairs from his headache and random crying, but Waniko gasped and it stopped Kuroko in his tracks. He turned to Akashi who glanced up at the taller male, his eyes never leaving Waniko's face; it showed his abundant confidence.

"Oh! I almost forgot. I talked with our superior! He said that its okay if Kise-kun and Aomine-kun don't leave for London until a couple weeks from now. He said that one of his employees, I think his name is Michael, is returning back home to America and he needed him to monitor Kise and Aomine during their photo-shoots. Evidently, he's _really_ well respected." Waniko laughed when he said his last sentence, adding to the sarcasm in voice. Pat had to control his laughter too, putting his hand over his mouth with his palm facing outwards. They must of known something that Akashi and Kuroko didn't.

"I wonder what he did to piss the boss off to make him resort to _babysitting_. Nonetheless, since he is out of the country, plans had to change. It's actually a good thing that Aomine declined to leave. But they still have to leave in a couple weeks." Waniko finished off with another sip of his wine and smiled again at Akashi and then the group. Kuroko had no idea who they were talking about but he acted like he did, so he smiled and fought back the urge to nibble on his cake pop some more. The punch that he was holding in his hand looked terribly delicious and he also held back the urge to take a sip.

"Well that's swell. Thank you Mr. Morrow, I'm glad to know that they are not giving you any trouble." Akashi slightly bowed to the young managers and then turned to Kuroko,

"if you'll excuse us Kuroko. We have some business to discuss." Akashi silently warned Kuroko that whatever they were about to talk about was going to be private so with one simple bow and some polite goodbyes, Kuroko dashed off towards the elevator at the end of the hall and mashed the buttons. He was so physically drained from the little time that he spent at the party that he just wanted to rest.

He looked back down at his phone in his pocket and sighed, remembering the text from Kagami. The thoughts of the red head fluttered into his mind and the contents of the text crashed him back to reality.

Alex was really gone. There was no magic spell nor any miracle potion that could bring her back. He was gone for good, and without realizing it he figured that's why he had been crying and having those terrible headaches. He wasn't really close to the blonde wonder but he knew how important she was. So he unconsciously wept until Murasakibara noticed he was crying.

Feeling as if his face was still laced with tears, Kuroko wiped his eyes again and heard the elevator ding, signaling his departure. He stepped off the elevator and was finally relaxed when the bustling from the party sounded like a muffled radio in the distance. However, where he ended up shocked him. He looked at the sign near the elevator.

"Fourth Floor"

What the hell was he doing on the fourth floor? Did he accidentally press that button on purpose? They were pretty close to eachother. The ground floor being on the top and then the first three in the first row and the next three in the next row. So maybe his hand was placed just a little too low?

No, that couldn't be it. He must've pressed the button subconsciously. He tried to think of why he was on Aomine's floor when it hit him.

The kiss.

That stupid, unintentional kiss that screwed everything up for him. Did he seem guilty? Is that why he was on this floor? Did he want to secretly talk to Aomine to let him know he didn't mean it? Even though a little piece of him _did_ mean it.

He sighed loudly, coming to the conclusion that he could at least talk to Aomine to see if Kagami told him the news.

He started to walk but then heard a slam at the end of the hall and saw Kise storm away from the door and down the hall towards him.

Damn everything was just cutting him off today.

"K-Kise-kun. Are you alright?" Kuroko asked a drunk Kise from afar, who shook grudgingly. He looked like he was wallowing in his own drunk self pity. He turned to Kuroko's huge blue eyes with hate in his face, although Kuroko knew it wasn't directed straight to him.

"You know what? I'll just get a quick fuck from Kasamatsu! Whatever! Fucking A-aominecchi." Kise slurred and kept walking, not even looking at Kuroko through half of his sentence. The shorter male just watched with curious eyes as Kise hiccuped down the hall and to the elevator. It wasn't until Kise stepped inside and the elevator descended that Kuroko decided to keep walking. He knocked on Aomine's door, the one that Kise stormed out of, and entered upon hearing a grunting sound from inside.

Kuroko stepped inside slowly, his face half lit from the light in the hallway. It was extremely dark in the room and Kuroko wondered why Aomine would be sitting on his bed in completely darkness.

"May I sit with you? Aomine-kun?" Upon hearing his name, Aomine turned his head and his eyes grew slightly as he realized who was in the room. But his face quickly hardened and he turned back to the carpet, giving Kuroko all the response that he needed. Kuroko slowly closed the door and took off his shoes near the entrance. He then made his way over to Aomine and sat down next to the huge body.

He contemplated why he was here again. To talk about the kiss? Hell what if Aomine didn't even know about it? He would just be setting himself on fire. But still, he felt bad about it. Extremely bad about it. Ever since Midorima and Takao told him that no one should ever butt into the affairs of others, Kuroko was less bitter towards Aomine. Did he feel bad? Yeah. Did he know why he felt bad? No. Did he know what to do to make it stop? Not at all.

But here he was, sitting next to someone who used to be his rival because they both fell in love with the same red haired idiot. Kuroko opened his mouth slightly, he was either about to diffuse a bomb or blow it up entirely.

"Aomine-kun, about the kiss..."

"Listen, Tetsu, about the kiss..."

When they both spoke at the same time Kuroko blinked up at Aomine who chuckled dryly while scratching the back of his head.

"You go first.." Kuroko said, giving Aomine time to get his words together. The tanned male folded his hands together and put his elbows on his knees, looking down towards the ground.

"I don't care if you like Kagami. This might sound a little crazy but I trust him. Akashi showed me the footage on the stairs. I saw everything. Which leads me to believe that you've liked Kagami for a while now. But that's okay, because I trust him to tell you to back off on his own time. I don't want to ruin your friendship with him. I'm not satan." Aomine paused, breathing deeply out of his mouth. Kuroko couldn't completely see his face in the dark but he knew that Aomine must've had a hurt look plastered on it.

"I don't want to ruin our friendship either.." He turned to Kuroko, the bed slightly squeaking. Kuroko just sighed and tried to look up to where he thought Aomine's face would be. He blinked his huge eyes at the darkness, wishing that they would adjust to the lack of light faster.

"I-I'm sorry." Was all Kuroko could come up with. To be honest he was utterly ashamed. His emotions had taken over his body in the last few days to the point of masturbation and he hated himself for it. He remembered taking pictures of Aomine and Sakurai to send to Kagami and blackmail Aomine but now even thinking about them were making him sick. He felt tears stinging his eyes and his body uncontrollably sniffled. He didn't know if Aomine was appalled or sympathetic at his actions but when he felt a hard hand around his back and a warm chest on his face, he knew that Aomine had forgiven him. He grabbed onto Aomine's shirt and cling to him tightly, crying his big blue eyes out until he was sure that he was out of water in his body. He couldn't believe how fast his emotions were changing. Just a couple days ago he had despised of Aomine, loathed him even. But now, now he just wanted his old friend back and he didn't know which feelings were true or not. He had accepted that Kagami might not like him back and it made him cry harder. Hell, even if Kagami did like him it would be hard for Kagami to break away from Aomine.

Kuroko accepted it that night, accepted the fact that sometimes the person you love doesn't love you and sometimes you have to get over it.

That's just how life is.

Kuroko was slowly coming down from his rapid crying and he lightly chuckled against Aomine's chest, making the bigger male push their bodies away and look at him in confusion.

Kuroko was laughing at himself for all the things he was thinking at once. What was he going through? The male period?

"S-sorry.. I'm just thinking about how crazy everything has been the last couple of days." Kuroko laughed and rubbed his eyes, resulting in Aomine standing up and getting some tissues.

"Tell me about it. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was secretly documenting us as "The Worlds Gayest and Emotional Household" or something." Aomine joked as he reached for the tissues, handing a couple to Kuroko who nodded in thanks and blew his nose. Aomine sat back down and then it was Kuroko's time to talk, who stared emotionally at the floor.

"Did Kagami tell you... about Alex..." Kuroko asked slowly, afraid that if he said the wrong thing the wrong way then Aomine would think his boyfriend told someone else first.

"Yeah.. He called me.." Aomine said as he unconsciously reached for his phone to see if Kagami had tried to contact him again. When Aomine felt nothing, he patted at his pockets again, a little more aggressively this time.

"Shit!" Aomine said as he stood up, walking over to the light switch and turning it on. The bright light made both of them cower until their eyes had adjusted more comfortably, then Aomine looked around his bedroom floor.

"What is it?" Kuroko said alarmed as Aomine picked up his bedsheets from the floor and started to shake them.

"Ugh. Kise must have my damn phone." The tanned male said when he couldn't find his phone. He remembered how something fell from his pockets when Kise had climbed on top of him. And how Kise had also been thrown off the bed with the blanket. He must of though that Aomine's phone was his own in his drunk state of mind. Aomine clicked his tongue as he threw his bed sheets lazily back on the bed.

"Do you want to go get it now? I should leave anyways.. I'm still kind of worked up about Alex.." Kuroko gripped at the end of his suit tie loosely and looked over to Aomine, who was standing there scratching his head.

"Nah. He said something about having a quick fuck and I really don't want to see him in the middle of that." Aomine laughed at himself as he sat back down in the bed. Kuroko nodded and once again they were left with silence, looking down at the carpet.

"I still can't believe she's gone." Kuroko muttered, making a slight frown with his lips.

"Yeah.. I know."

* * *

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Kagami stares up at the ceiling, not really paying attention to anything in particular. The only thing he can hear in the background is the ticking of the clock and his brother's snores as time passes by, achingly, slowly.

He can feel his nerves click like cogs inside of him. How long has it been now? An hour? Two hours? Maybe four? Kagami doesn't know anymore. He only recognizes the clicking and the snores from across the room. His eyes are glazed over, the ceiling staring at him in intimidation. His eyes are in focus, but also out of focus. He's paying attention, but not really paying attention.

Alex was gone. She was gone and there was no way to bring her back. He knew that, he knew that yet still, he was in denial.

He slightly chuckled as he remembered the poster he saw in the hospital earlier that day. "7 Stages of Grief", it was called. And he figured that that was what he was going through right now. The first one was shock and denial. He was definitely going through that. He was denying the reality of loss, in order to avoid the immense pain. He also remembered how the poster said that when the shock wears off, it is replaced with the suffering of unbelievable pain.

He chuckled again. He was already experiencing the pain. His emotions were chaotic, _scary_ even. He didn't even know if what he was feeling could be described as pain. Maybe melancholy, or maybe misery. Hah, sorrow was a good one. Or how about despair, depression, despondency. _Desperation._

He slightly turns over, his bed creaking like the aching of his heart as it has to pump faster to move his hollow bones, picks up his phone and checks the time.

4:30 in the morning. Great. That means it would be about 8-9 PM in Tokyo. Although Kagami had called Aomine an hour earlier, he knew the only way he was going to get any comfort was if Aomine talked to him in his deep, sweet voice. Telling him that everything would be alright, telling him how much he missed him and how much he loved him.

He smiled at the thought, his muscles feeling sore from doing the almost forgotten act, and opened up Aomine's contact in his phone, clicking the call button. He knew that talking to his boyfriend was the only way he was going to get any sleep.

He waited for the buzz anxiously, the only moment where he had felt mildly happy that whole day was right then and there. It rang and rang and at first he thought that Aomine wouldn't answer. Still he kept his hopes up, wanting to talk to Aomine throughout the whole night until he lightly fell asleep.

But then it stopped. His happy moment crashed just like his face that contorted into a horrified frown when he heard the noises coming from the phone.

Moaning. Two people were _moaning_ and Kagami had no idea what to do. Being utterly terrified, the red head forgot about using his inside voice and pushed the phone closer to his ear, uncertainty melting its way onto his face.

"Aomine?! Aomine?!" Kagami tried to search for someone, anyone to reach out to him and tell him it was a prank or that he had accidently dialed the wrong number. He looked back at his phone. The bright screen showing Aomine's name as the contact. Nope, he had definitely called Aomine's number. Kagami thought that he couldn't feel anymore pain after what happened that day but he realized he was wrong as he heard a voice from the phone.

"Ugh.. Fuck Kise.. I'm gonna cum soon.." A gruff voice said as the moans continued, and Kagami could literally feel his heart squeezing in on itself in his chest.

Aomine was?... Aomine was?... _Aomine_?...

No. No that can't be. There has to be some mistake. Maybe it was someone else's voice. Yeah a lot of deep voices sound the same. Yet why did they have his phone? And why did they answer? Unless they butt-dialed him.. Unless _Aomine_ butt-dialed him. Aomine was, _cheating_ on him? During a time like this? When he had just lost one of the closest people in his life? Kagami could feel tears in his eyes as he darted up, finally stirring up his brother sleeping across the room.

"AOMINE. If you don't fucking answer me..." Kagami yelled into the phone but his voice cracked and he got hoarse near the end of his sentence, tears streaming down his face and his mind forgetting all reason. He had been through way too much today and he thought he would crack. He realized that he was a lot stronger than he thought because he hadn't lost his mind yet.

As if on cue, the moans and slapping sounds increased and Kagami put one hand over his chest, literally bitting his lower lip to stop himself from crying out further. By this time, Himuro was awake and asking what was wrong, but the red head was so far off that he didn't even hear his brother over the noises coming from his phone.

"AOMINE IF YOU DON'T FUCKING ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW WE ARE DONE!" Kagami screamed the loudest he could get his voice to scream, making Himuro jump out of his skin and rush over to Kagami, shaking him to see why he wasn't paying attention to the other. At first he thought it was a vivid nightmare, but he could fully see Kagami's opened eyes and alert state. Kagami was shaking violently, everything in his body felt fragile and if he moved he would break on the spot. The moaning only increased and Kagami finally realized that enough was enough, so he ended the phone call an threw his phone across the room. It hit the wall with a bounce yet was still completely intact. The clock on the wall suddenly stopped ticking but the red head couldn't tell. His voice was raspy and his chest heaved arguably fast. Kagami stuffed his face into his hands and cried immensely, leaving a very confused yet concerned Himuro by his bedside, stroking his arm to calm him down. The only sounds that could be heard from their hotel room that night was the excrutiating cries of the red head and the shushing from his brother.

The rest of that night was unbearable.

* * *

 **A/N** ;;

I'm so fucking lazy dude oK SO AS I'M WRITING THIS I'm thinking about where I am in the storyline right like "ok well I'm x amount of this in and on this day x happened so I need to mention this that happened on x day in the conversation" RIGHT. AND LITERALLY AS I'M WRITING THE LAST BIT I'M LIKE "...they have different time zones." CAUSE JAPAN AND CALIFORNIA. LIKE COME ON CRYLE ARE YOU THAT SLOW. I'M SO LAZY I TRIED TO FIX IT THE BEST I COULD BUT I COULDNT AND UFH. I know I'm horrible. But I needed the times to match up for that last scene.

\+ That sweet little reunion with Aomine and Kuroko awwww. I have different plans for Kuroko hehehe. BUT OMFG KAGAMI CALLED AT THE WRONG FUCKING TIME UGH IM SORRY PLEASE DONT HATE ME THE DRAMMAAAAAAAA. I have to add some bittersweet good parts in here sooner or later or everyone will just stop reading it because of all the drama ;_;

I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. Sorry for another cliffhanger type thingy. I also realized I haven't wrote smut in this story. Like a full out scene and that needs to happen soon. But my plot is taking over my story. What do you guys think? Smut Plot or Plot Smut. I'm also still taking requests for small drabbles/imagines so check out my bio if you're interested c;

 **Absalon95** :: Thank you SO SO SO much for your lovely review! 3. I really wanted the plot to be frustratingly good and I'm glad that you think so c: and I hope that this chapter added to your suspicions of where Tatsuya is. I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER333.

 **EminaRukiax** :: RIGHT? Like Akashi wtf how much money you get to be holding parties for people with _way_ too much money in their hands to know what to do with it. I hope you love all the suspense c;! As you can probably tell, I have A LOT of ideas for Mike. Being the new guy and all he has to be important -wink hint wink wink-. I hoped you loved this chapter and thank you so much for continuing to show your support3.

 **bloodybrain33** :: IKR KISE STOP BEING A LITTLE BITCH. Lol jk, but in all honesty. I hope you enjoyed seeing Kise all over and Aomine actually NOT BEING A LITTLE HORNY DOUCHE AND CUTTING HIM OFF. And that little Kuroko/Aomine reunion. How beautiful3. Well... now you know Alex's situation. Sad life. Thank you for always being so excited for the next chapter3!

 **charmingcrissy1** :: hahah! Thank you so much. I'm glad that your heart is being torn. I hope you enjoyed this chapter guurrll. ;3

If you see any typos or something that looks off please feel free to contact me and let me know, because this chapter was fucking 12k+ words and there's only so much I can do. Until next time my loves~ Which will probably be a while because I'm on vacation and I usually write right before I go to bed and I'm always too tired when I finally get home when traveling.

-Cryle


	7. Diffusion

DISCLAIMER:: I do not own KNB or its characters. However, I do own this story. Please do not redistribute without permission.

Chapter VII: Diffusion

* * *

"Hello?" She spoke nervously, her hand shaking as she tried to grasp a tighter hold on her cellphone. Her uniform was obscure from completing her recent task and she shivered as a cold breeze made its way down the alley; it made her pay closer attention to her surroundings.

"He's here. He's going to be here for about another week. Get ready." The deep voice spoke lowly as the phone picked up the slight changes in frequencies.

"I thought you said you wouldn't call me while I'm at work. While I'm doing work." She was aggravated now, her task being interrupted by useless information that she already knew of. The voice chuckled on the other end of the line. There was a slight pause, and although the girl already knew what was going to be said, she still waited: patiently, obediently.

"You're going to be doing a lot more work now that he's here." The man hung up and left the woman with her thoughts and the cold to accompany her. She sighed, putting her phone back into her uniform and continuing to drag the dead body down the alleyway.

* * *

Akashi sat with one leg across his thigh, sipping at his wine endlessly while the morning sun shone through the bright curtains in the lounge. Z, had housed over 200 people last night and the party had been very successful. Akashi was practically beaming as he sat by himself, thinking about how much success he would gain from the event. A handful of businessmen at the minimum had came up to him to talk about revenue and stocks and his current investment in the market. Of course, being the sly guy that he is, Akashi couldn't end the night without cheating at least one person out of their money. His fingers tapped endlessly on the small table he was sitting next to and he beamed even more when he saw Aomine exit the elevator with a sleepy look on his face.

"Good morning Daiki. The party was superb. I'm very proud of all of you. Did you have fun last night?" Akashi grinned, drinking down the rest of his wine and placing it on the table. The bustling maids were rushing around, sweeping and picking up garbage and leftover wine glasses laying about. Aomine was wearing his usual black hoodie but paired with black shorts. He scratched the back of his head and yawned, not bothering to cover up his mouth. Akashi flinched at the action; it was rather rude. No one wanted to smell your morning breath or see the inside of your mouth.

"I wouldn't exactly call it fun." Aomine walked over and looked around the lounge, "hiring people to do the work for you, Akashi?"

Akashi chuckled and stood up, putting his hands in his suit pockets. It seemed as if he was always wearing a suit, always ready for an interview. This time it was Aomine who flinched.

"I have more than enough money. Besides, I have business to attend to." Without so much as a goodbye, Akashi kept a sharp smile on his face and walked past Aomine, chuckling as he did so. The blunette didn't know what to say, so he continued walking through the lounge and towards the kitchen. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he ate, so he walked up to the fridge and grabbed the last apple. The kitchen was slightly a mess as well. Icing was clumped up on the floor and in certain corners of the counters. The huge dining table was smothered with wine glasses and dirtied plates. It almost looked like a 10 year old had their birthday party in there. The maids were zooming past Aomine, not giving him any attention as they stayed focused on their task. One of them, however, bumped into him and bowed excessively as an apology, making the taller male laugh.

"It's alright. Just watch your step." Aomine smiled at the maid and she visually relaxed as the tension left her face. Aomine guessed that she was use to hard treatment from Akashi and scoffed internally. He didn't have to treat them like slaves. The maid looked eagerly at the apple in Aomine's hand and her eyes lit up.

"Would Kuroko-san like an apple as well? I can get more from the pantry and bring it to your room." The maid replied and blinked expectantly, waiting for Aomine to speak.

Huh? How did she know Kuroko was in his room? It was true that last night after they talked about Alex, Kuroko fell asleep on the blunette's bed. Being the gentleman that he sometimes was, Aomine tried to carry Kuroko back to his room but the small male made a scene and didn't want to get up, resulting in Aomine having to share his bed.

Considering that Aomine doesn't share his bed with anyone but Kagami—and even that was only a rare occasion—Kuroko had considering it a new level in their friendship. He was more than happy when he realized that Aomine had forgiven him for everything he did in the past, and that they had moved on. So now the small male was sleeping in Aomine's bed while the blunette was downstairs. Aomine didn't blame him though, they had talked almost all night just about Alex and how crazy it was that she was gone so fast. Just about the small things that they hardly ever talked about.

"No he's still asleep. Thank you though." Aomine bowed at the maid before returning to the elevator. He had one more task to do before returning to Kuroko, and that was to get his phone back from Kise.  
He really, really, really didn't feel like talking to Kise right now and he damn sure wasn't ready to deal with him and his drunk hangover self. Surely he would realize that what he tried to do was wrong, wouldn't he? He probably thought Aomine was an easy target since he used to mess around in the past.

But now—now that Aomine had Kagami, he swore he would change. He wouldn't let one drunk friend change the promise he made to the one he cared the most about. He wondered what Kise was doing. Was he alone in his bedroom dealing with his hangover? Was he still sleeping? Was he crying about how Aomine how rejected him? The blunette suddenly remembered how picking up people was easy for Kise; since he was a model after all. Maybe last night shocked him to some extent? The sudden rejection from something that was so easy in the past because of modeling? Or maybe Kise was lonely. Maybe under his happy exterior he was just lonely because he could never have a serious relationship with anyone.

Aomine could relate to that; sometimes sleeping around got very unfrequented.

The blunette felt a small pang of guilt as he rode in the elevator. Maybe he was kind of to blame for the incident too. Sure, it wasn't his fault for Kise flinging himself onto him but he did tease Kise, a lot. Maybe the blonde thought that Aomine was interested in him from the constant teasing.

He arrived at the second floor with a shuffle of his aching feet and another yawn. He truly needed more sleep, but something told him to get up this morning and get his phone. Some kind of instinct—his gut—told him that he needed to get his phone as soon as possible. He ripped the stem off of his apple and took a bite, then he walked up to Kise's room door and knocked on the door.

He waited patiently for Kise to either groan from inside or open the door annoyed.

But nothing happened. He knocked again and took another bite out of the fruit.

"Jesus Kise open the door!" Aomine all but yelled as he knocked again. He was frustrated now. Was Kise ignoring him? Or was he passed out in the bathroom next to the toilet? The blunette groaned and kept gnawing away at his apple, thinking of what his next move was going to be.

"Fine. I'll just g-go fuck Kasamatsu."

Oh no. Aomine groaned again and rubbed his face with his free hand. He just had to remember what Kise said before storming off. Great. He didn't want to deal with a drunken Kise in Kasamatsu's bed. Finishing off his apple and throwing the core into the trash, Aomine made his way down the hall. Luckily, each door had the team's last name written on them, so Aomine was able to quickly and easily locate Kasamatsu's door. He knocked with his knuckles softly and waited, bracing himself for whatever was about to await him.

Still, nothing.

What the hell was up with everyone today? Did they all get wasted last night and partied like no tomorrow?

Aomine decided to knock one more time and wait again, his patience starting to cut thin. He was about to yell for Kasamatsu when the door opened slightly and Kise's blond hair was visible.

"What do you wantttttttttt?" Kise slurred on his words, still hooked on his hangover, and had to stare at Aomine for over 5 seconds before releasing just who he was. Aomine looked down at the model and had to bite his lip from laughing because the bed head that he was seeing right now was so ridiculous.

"A-Aomine..." Kise lowered his head and held on to the doorknob, still keeping a fair distance between himself and Aomine. The blunette couldn't tell what lay behind the door but he had a gut feeling that a drunk—and possibly naked—Kasamatsu was in the bed. Aomine stared a Kise, his sharp eyes trying to pierce through Kise's skull and force him to look up at him. For some reason the blond looked beyond sad, although he had gotten what he wanted, he still looked shaken up about it. Maybe he finally felt ashamed for what he had done—or tried to do—last night?

"I just came to get my phone. You accidently took it." Aomine stated with a rather grave tone. His morning voice of grumbles and grunts always had Kise hooked and the short male looked up at him with big eyes.

"Oh. That was your phone..." The blond's eyes returned to their normal size and he hung his head again. He stayed still for a moment, before processing that Aomine was waiting for him to either move and let him in or go get his phone and bring it back.

"Kise." Aomine almost snapped, his patience had whittled away and he wanted to move the blonde aside himself and go find his phone. He didn't know when, but he started feeling anxious. Something told him that he needed to get his phone and that feeling only increased as the time went by.

The blonde looked up again, his face visibly shaking. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and something in Aomine's chest curled. Oh no, was Kise about to cry? He really didn't need this so early in the morning. The blunette was such a sucker for when people cried—especially Momoi—that he would either comfort them with no questions asked or completely walk away and deal with it later.

And today was one of those comforting days, even if he didn't want to admit it.

"A-aominecchi... I-I'm s-so-" For some reason, Kise couldn't form a complete sentence as his breath hitched in his throat and his tears let gravity take over as they slowly fell down his face. The blond slowly studied the ground as he turned on his heels, disappearing into the darkness of the bedroom. Aomine was baffled; he didn't know how to comfort a crying Kise. Especially when the one who was crying had realized what they had did wrong. When the blond returned, he held his hand out and revealed the phone—which Aomine quickly took grasp of—and kept his head downwards.

"I had it in my pocket for most of the night... A-and then it fell to the floor. So sorry if someone contacted you and I didn't answer." His voice held serious dejection and the blunette could feel his tension surround them like a cloud blanketing the sky. Was he obliged to forgive him? Did he even want to forgive him? Forgetting his thoughts and stuffing his phone in his pocket, Aomine turned on his heels and looked towards the end of the hall before saying something to the blond that was quite hopeful for him. In Aomine's mind, this was the closest to comforting he could get.

"We can talk later. Just, calm yourself first." Aomine looked Kise in his golden eyes that held more reflection than usual due to their crying state, and debated rubbing a tear off of his cheek with his thumb. But he figured that doing so would only makes things worse, so he nodded before leaving the doorway and out of Kise's sight. He stifled a sigh as he made his way to the elevator, checking his phone once the doors had closed.

"3 calls, a voicemail and 20 messages... What the hell." Aomine voiced his thoughts out loud as he checked his phones call history and then flipped to his messages.

"They're all from Kagami. I hope he's ok." Aomine had his eyes glued to the phone and went to check the voicemail, holding the phone up to his ear before pressing the play button.

"Aomine you better fucking pick up right now. I cant believe you fucking did this after everything I've been through today. Well I guess it's over now. I actually thought that you would be loyal in our relationship but I guess fucking not. We're done and I hope to never see your fucking face again." Kagami's wavering voice was heard through the tiny speaker and the tanned male voiced his uncertainty out loud.

"Eh?!" Aomine screamed in the elevator, glaring at the phone with all the built up confusion he was feeling. It's over? Cheating? What? Without another thought he went back to his messages and read most of them before he reached his floor.

 **Kaga-butt** : Are you fucking kidding me?!

 **Kaga-butt** : Aomine please...

 **Kaga-butt** : I can't believe this.

 **Kaga-butt** : ANSWER THE PHONE.

 **Kaga-butt** : Why won't you answer me...

 **Kaga-butt** : Why... How could you do this...

 **Kaga-butt** : ...It was Kise all along..

 **Kaga-butt** : You fucking cheater. I hope you rot in hell...

Aomine read the texts with knotted eyebrows and quivering lips. He noted the constant fluctuation in Kagami's attitude but he just couldn't wrap his head around what was going on.

"Cheat on him?! I didn't cheat on him? What the hell is this idiot talking about?!" Without so much as a second though, Aomine pressed the call button, hoping that Kagami would explain his irrational behavior.

But the ring went on for ages, and in the end he didn't answer.

"Dammit!" Aomine almost threw his phone on the floor, his limbs were filled with frustration. He stomped out of the elevator once he had reached his floor and burst through the door, totally forgetting about his sleeping friend in the bed.

"A...Aomine-Kun?" Kuroko rolled over in the bed, familiar with the voice that was cursing and stomping about. A throb ensued in his head and he gripped the pillow, throwing it over his face to try and mute the ever growing growls coming from the door.

"Ugh dammit! Who does he think he is?! Really, honestly, he thinks I would cheat. He's the one who practically let you kiss him. And what the hell were you thinking Kuroko? Kissing someone else's boyfriend? Is that what this is about?!" Evidently, Aomine didn't forget about the smaller male sleeping in his bed and instead blamed him for whatever Kagami was talking about; obviously not knowing where or who to center his anger towards.

"What?" This time Kuroko sat up, fully alert to what was going on around him. There Aomine was, flustered, beyond chaotic as he stomped in circles, his dark blue eyes nearly glowering.

"You heard me! Kagami thinks I cheated on him! Hah! How? I didn't even do anything?!"

"Wait Aomine-kun calm down... When did this happen?" Kuroko blinked slowly, trying to reason with his friend who was acting like a wild animal.

"I can't take you seriously when it looks like you have arms growing out of your head." Aomine stopped walking in circles and pointed to Kuroko's bed head, which looked exactly how he described it.

"Better?" Kuroko asked once he flattened out his hair, unfazed by the event. The blunette then nodded and proceeded to answer the earlier question.

"It happened last night I'm guessing. When I got my phone back this morning I checked the messages."  
Double checking the times, Aomine nodded to confirm that what he said was true.

"Yeah, definitely last night."

"And who had your phone last night?" Kuroko knew where this was going, so he waited to see if Aomine would catch on and how long it would take.

"Kise did duh! But I don't understand how that-" Aomine's eyes grew wide, a streak of terror flying across them.

"Uh no." He said, face frozen in some unspeakable horror that Kuroko didn't know about.

"What?"

"Oh no oh no oh no." Aomine stuttered, picking up his pace again and walking in circles. When Kuroko didn't answer him, he stopped and grabbed his head full of dark blue hair.

"Did Kagami call my phone while Kise was having sex with Kasamatsu? THINKING IT WAS ME?!" Aomine nearly screamed, too frustrated to do anything remotely normal with his body. Kuroko—seemingly indifferent to the whole situation—nodded at Aomine's rhetorical question.

"That's possible yes." He said, and once Aomine had stopped screaming he straightened up, a hard shell forming on his face.

"...I'm gonna kill him." Was all he growled in a deep low voice as he rearranged his clothes, as if to head right back out.

"Aomine a "butt call" isn't intentional. He probably didn't even notice it." Kuroko honestly wanted to see what would happen if Aomine approached Kise but he couldn't let his friend get pummeled to death so he tried to talk some sense into the blunette.

"Yeah, well. I'm going to fix this." The tanned male spouted as he walked back to the door. Before he exited, he turned around and gave one last look at Kuroko, who noted the difference in his voice.

"You probably won't see me for a while."

* * *

Kagami felt horrible.

Maybe it was because of the lack of food he was eating, or maybe it was because of the lack of sleep he was getting.

Or maybe it was because of the thousands of tissues he had cried into last night at calling his "said ex boyfriend", only to hear him cheating on him.

Whatever it was, it made his insides churn when he moved and his chest ache when he breathed. His whole body screamed at him when he tried to sit up and his consciousness told him to just drift away in the bed.

"You're gonna get bed sores like that." Himuro had called to him, brushing back his hair and fixing his shirt in the hotel mirror. He was going to go discuss funeral plans at a nearby place, and asked if Kagami wanted to go.

Of course he said no.

He had said no to every little thing that was told, asked or demanded of him.

 _"Kagami you should shower"_  
 _"No"_  
 _"Kagami you need to eat"_  
 _"No"_  
 _"Kagami you have to get up out of bed right now."_  
 _"No"_

With a groan that had become his new way of communication, Kagami rolled over in his sheets, almost hearing his muscles cry from the pain. He was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted.

"Just promise me you won't be in bed when I get back." Himuro told him, walking over to his brother and placing his hand on top of the redhead's.

"I'm worried about you." He said with concerned eyes, and was rewarded with an actual sentence that seemed void from Kagami's mind in the last 12 hours.

"Okay... I'll do something, promise." The red head croaked out, his voice obviously not ready for the task of speaking. This resulting in a slight nod from Himuro, who then got up and grabbed his phone and a small black suitcase, and made his way out of the hotel room. The click of the room door caused Kagami to slightly relax back into the sheets and close his eyes. He needed to get up and do something, the whole day was ahead of him for starters. Kagami visioned himself getting up out of bed and putting clothes on, brushing his teeth and making himself look nice for wherever he was going.

Hell it was almost two past noon, he should at least do something.

He was just about to exit the door and be on his way in his little dream when a vibrating noise shook him out of his sleep. He groggily reached for his slightly cracked phone that he had thrown across the room and saw the caller ID.

"Aomi-babe. Hah. Funny. I don't remember who that is exactly." Kagami slurred as he declined the call and placed his phone back down. However, no matter how indifferent he tried to sound, deep down, he was hurting like hell.

And he was sick of it.

He had done nothing wrong in his life to deserve this. Why was karma seeking revenge on him now? It seemed like his life was slowly descending into the deepest pits of hell because he felt every emotion of despair eat away at him.

But he also felt nothing.

So instead of laying in his own depression he sat up, rubbing his temples and glaring at the sun that was shining outside. It had been forever since he had last seen his friends in America, and he already abused seeing them since Alex had passed.

Kagami rubbed his aching chest slowly, feeling a knot well up inside.

"Great.." His raspy voice spoke out into the open air and made him clear his throat since he sounded more broken than he had thought.

The hotel room was set up in a elegant suite style, and Kagami hadn't really taken in the surroundings since the only place he had acquainted himself with was the queen bed. The floor was lined with a soft light brown carpet that had tribal symbols running down the sides and near the trims of the wall. The furniture was also light brown with chestnut colored desks and a huge flash screen mounted around a tribal wall painting. The room was big enough for Kagami to see Himuro's bed on the other side before curving around to the kitchen; which was lined with tan marble floors and accompanied by mahogany counter tops. Near Kagami's side of the huge room was the window looking out over the rest of the city and the door that lead out into the hallway. The color scheme seemed to be light browns and reds, which Kagami preferred over other styles. Himuro must have picked it with that fact in mind. The red head chuckled and rubbed his hands through his hair violently.

"Why am I so pitiful? You're Taiga. Get yourself together." He had to slap his cheeks a few times, letting the stinging sensation spark life into his face. His dark red tank top clung to his muscular chest and gained the red heads attention. Kagami slowly raised his arms and sniffed, trying to figure out how badly he needed to shower on a scale of 1 to 10.

"Definitely an 11." He snorted as he took a whiff of his body odor. He started to remove the covers that seemed to be suffocating his legs but he heard his phone ring again. The cockiness that he had earlier started to built and without even looking at the caller ID he swiped the screen and tried to muster up the meanest voice he could.

"Look AHOMINE, I don't want to fucking speak to a cheater like yo-" Kagami started to grit his teeth, seemingly pissed off at who he thought was his boyfriend on the other end of the phone. But before he could finish he was cut off by an unknown voice.

"Uh hey, Kagami? It's Mike." Kagami froze in his awkward position of half-on-half-off the bed with his heart racing like crazy. Like the hot head, forgetful idiot he was, he failed to remember how he had texted Mike after Himuro and himself made their way back from the hospital one night. So of course, Mike had his number and could call him at any time now. Cursing under his breath, Kagami shuffled out of the blankets and stood up, letting out a heavy sigh that he didn't know he was holding.

"Oh uh, hey Mike... Sorry about that." Kagami tried to shake it off with a nervous chuckle, which earned him a small laugh from Mike.

"Hey don't worry about it. Boyfriend troubles?" Mike asked a little too obviously, treading over a thin line that he didn't know he shouldn't dare to cross.

"Uhm. Yeah. Anyways, what did you call for?"

"Do you want to hang out at this frozen yogurt spot to catch up? I haven't heard anything from you in a couple of days besides that 'hey it's Kagami' text. Are you okay?" Kagami had to choke back a cough when Mike asked how he was doing. Surely he wasn't that slow and understood that something had happened if Kagami hadn't spoken to him in days

After some slow thought and intense quietness from both lines of the phone, Kagami figured that he would tell him over frozen yogurt and nodded to himself. It would be good to get away from his encouraging depressed sleeping place and his backstabbing boyfriend. Besides, he had made Himuro a promise to actually get up out of bed.

"Yeah. Just let me take a shower." Kagami almost flinched when he smelled himself again, and started to rummage through his suitcase to find a decent outfit.

"Okay. I'll text you the address. See you in an hour." Mike chimed in and before Kagami was able to reply, the phone was hung up. The red head just shrugged and continued his search for clean clothes.

"I take it back. I should've showered two times." Kagami had said to himself, standing around outside the small frozen yogurt shop. It was surprisingly sunny that afternoon, no gloomy clouds covering the city with rain like the redhead's mind had pictured, no dreary people hanging with their heads down. After Alex passed away surprisingly quickly, Kagami's mind had followed suit; and everything he thought took a turn for the worse. Even when Himuro would get up to make some food Kagami would object, telling Himuro that it could be spoiled or that they should just starve. But today the air was calm, the sky was clear and the birds were loud. People walked by, concentrating on their busy day ahead. Some had coffee in their hands, some had phones. While Kagami was waiting for his company, he quickly glanced at his phone screen.

"2 new messages" The screen read, and the reader sighed once he realized who they were probably from. Before he could voice out his own thoughts, a voice sprung out into the open air and startled Kagami in his tracks.

"Taiga!"

"Oh. Hey Mike." The redhead replied happily after being startled half to death; but not too enthusiastically. He didn't want Mike to feel as if his happiness was faked, or that he didn't actually want to be there.

"How are you?" Mike asked vaguely, he scratched the back of his neck, as if to apologize for asking such a stupid question at the moment. Some strands of hair were laying astray on his neck as Kagami noticed his loose man bun at the back of his head. His dark brown hair turned into a milky chestnut color as it shone in the afternoon sun. The rays of light attracted Kagami to Mike's face—which was well shaven—and surprisingly sharp. He looked professional but laid back at the same time without even having to try. His denim jacket and lumberjack boots completed the look that was currently trending in California. The "messy lumberjack" as Kagami liked to call it, also known as the "let me not really try but half try to look smooth" look.

But it suited Mike, and for some reason Kagami wasn't bothered by it.

"I've been better. How's your work coming along?" The redhead asked, slowly stepping close to the outside walls of the shop to let other people effortlessly walk by the two.

"Good good! I've recently been assigned to accompany these two models in London soon. It'll be fun. So I won't be around here much longer." Mike replied easily, flashing a smile that showed plenty of pearly teeth and bright pink lips that reminded Kagami of Aomine's—very rare—smile. It was genuine, effortless, priceless, and it truly conveyed the emotions that he had always seeker out in his boyfriend. Or shall he say, ex boyfriend.

"Ah... That must be nice." Kagami unconsciously let his mind wonder back to Aomine. He wanted to reply with "oh hey yeah my ex boyfriend is suppose to leave for London soon with one of our mutual friends what a coincidence", but didn't have the courage to. He thought about what the blunette could be doing, thinking. Maybe he's thinking about him since he called and texted him multiple times? What is he doing right now? Is he sleeping? Is he playing basketball? Is he eating at Maji Burger? Is he shopping with Satsuki? Is he thinking about modeling with Kise?

"Shall we?" Mike's voice melted through his thoughts like slow simmering chocolate and Kagami had to shake his head more than once that gather his brain back to reality. He needed slowly and Mike walked ahead of him, his broad back the only view in front of Kagami. Although the where about the same size, Mike had advanced to the top of the staircase in front of the shop, leaving Kagami with a view that reminded him too much of his boyfriend—whom he was missing dearly.

"Come on Kagami you're suppose to be having fun with Mike! This isn't even a date! You promised Himuro you would get out of the house!" He thought to himself while walking up the stairs, nodding to Mike who graciously held the door open a little too eagerly.

Once they made their way inside, a sweet aroma filled Kagami's nostrils and he took a deep breath, letting the smell travel around his lungs completely before exhaling again. It put his mind at ease. The cool air, the sweet smell and the colorful frozen yogurt machines made the red head smile. It had been a long time since he had frozen yogurt; and he was missing it dearly.

The marble colored floor was an off-white, with tiny specks of red, yellow and blue splattered around. A couple cashiers waved at the two males to greet them and eagerly waited to get their money.

Multiple circular tables were scattered about but only a few of them were packed with customers.

"Good," Kagami thought, "it's not as packed as I assumed it would be."

"So..." Kagami trailed off, not really knowing what to say as he followed Mike through the frozen yogurt line. He picked up a small foam bowl, and proceeded to think extra hard about what kind of frozen yogurt he wanted.

"How is it like trying to get back into the culture?" The other male asked, getting his frozen yogurt and continuing down the line to top it with desserts. Kagami could tell that he was struggling to keep the conversation going.

"Crazy. Eastern and Western are just so different you know?"

"Exactly. Sometimes it's hard to fall back into place." Mike noted, drizzling some chocolate syrup on top of his candy toppings.

"Yeah..." Kagami said, immediately thinking about Aomine back home and dreading on the thought. He didn't talk the rest of the time while they were in line, and offered to pay once they got to the cashier but Mike objected, saying that it was his pleasure since he asked him out in the first place.

They eventually sat down at one of the white round tables and started eating slowly, quietly. The tension was starting to build as neither of them said anything; just focused on eating their food.

Finally Mike broke the silence, which Kagami inwardly sighed in relief. He didn't want to be the one to try and break the silence and end up saying something stupid in the end.

"Hey what's wrong? Is this about earlier with your boyfriend?" The other male asked slowly, knowing that certain words could trigger certain emotions that he didn't want the other male feeling.

After a short pause, Kagami finally sighed.

"Well... I think he may have cheated on me..." He said as he picked at the mochi resting on top of all his other sweets. Mike didn't say anything, as if waiting for the other to continue.

"I called him and heard him having sex with a mutual friend.. His voice was; different.. But that's just because he was having sex. And he answered and got caught.." Kagami finished, still poking around at the frozen yogurt. Sure, he was hungry. But he wasn't in the mood to eat after thinking about the situation.

"Well, he's an idiot for obviously missing out on what he had." Mike said softly, smiling as he continued to eat.

"Thanks... But I still love him so it hurts. I just, I guess I need to see him in person or something. I don't know if I can handle being away from him like this. Especially now."

"I see.. He surely messed up on a good thing." Mike said again, almost restating the exact compliment from earlier. He looked at the way Kagami reacted to it; tentatively, scared. He tried to divert the conversation on to Mike, he was too camera shy.

"Yeah.. But enough about me. Do you have any boyfriends we should discuss?"

"My past is pretty... dark. I don't really like to talk about specifics, but, once I find a guy I'm interested in, I'm watching him. Forever." Mike laughs, almost sourly as if to joke about his last sentence. Kagami laughs along nervously, not knowing if that was a joke or not. He was uncomfortable. The hair on the back of his neck felt cold and he rubbed his hand on his neck unconsciously. Mike finally looked up from his mochi, then smiled a soft, almost sweet smile as he stared at Kagami; his eyes a soft green.

" _I can't let them slip away, now can I_?"

* * *

"Mine-chin isn't here." The giant mouthed through a face full of cookies. His eyes were fierce, focusing on the topic at hand; which was always eating. Kuroko could tell that Murasakibaa didn't want to be bothered, so he just nodded and left the purple giant to his sweets, continuously walking through the lounge to try and find his friends.

When Aomine had stormed out of his own room, Kuroko had sighed and laid back down, deciding that he needed to rest some more before trying to tame the wild tanned beast. But when he had finally opted to get up, Aomine was no where to be seen. He had started with Momoi; since she usually knew of his whereabouts no matter how unpredictable they could be. But even she came up empty. He had searched the Touou hallway, the Seirin hallway, and finally he landed in the lounge where Murasakibara was eating sweets and watching the world go by.

As Kuroko continued to walk, he considered the male who had started this whole fiasco. He pulled out his phone and dialed up the number of the usually bright and beyond beautiful model. As the ring continued, Kuroko decided to make himself comfy and sit on one of the small pearl white love seats that was scattered about in the lounge.

"...hello." The voice broke through the speaker and Kuroko could automatically tell that Kise was down in the dumps, or so to speak. He usually answered the phone with a bright and chirpy hello that ended with a high pitch tone. But today he answered with an irritated tone, as if he didn't want to be bothered.

He was unenthusiastic. Something that Kuroko rarely saw or heard from the other.

"Kise-kun. Have you seen Aomine-kun?" Kuroko asked as he exited the main lounge area, looking through multiple rooms on the main floor. There was a long pause before Kuroko heard a sigh escape the other male's mouth.

"Yeah this morning. But that was it..." There was another pause, as Kuroko could tell that Kise still had more to say. And that he did.

"Kurokocchi what if our modeling trip is canceled. What if he doesn't want to model anymore because I... Because I..." Kise was taking sharp breaths that were similar to sobbing as he tried to finish the rest of his sentence.

"Kise-kun. Don't worry. I'll knock some sense into him okay? As soon as I find him." Kuroko tried to reassure his friend, but the sobbing breaths wouldn't stop. The blunette let his friend cry his emotions out as he sat there, trying to tell him that it would be okay.

The maids that were tidying up the lounge sometimes gazed at Kuroko, for they could hear the obnoxious wails from feet away.

"I'm such an idiot. I'm so dumb." Kise sobbed into the phone, and Kuroko knew that there was more to this than just Aomine's phone and Kise's one night stand.

"Kise-kun. What exactly happened last night?" Kuroko tried to ask politely, for he didn't want to overstep his boundaries. He heard a sharp sob from Kise and then silence, and he knew that he had struck a nerve.

"I'd rather not talk about it Kurokocchi..." The blond's voice sounded broken and scratchy through the mobile device, making Kuroko think that there was a connection problem. In the end, the model gave no more clues as to what else had occurred that night, furthering Kuroko's suspicion but not letting him act out on impulse.

"Alright. Well, Goodbye Kise-kun. I'll fix this." The blond responded with a small grunt and Kuroko found himself huffing as the phone call ended.

Why was he stuck between all of this? Why was Aomine no where to be seen? Why did Kise—out of all people—act like a depressed housewife?

The short blunette sighed once again and ruffled a hand through his former bed hair and looked around the lounge.

For some ironic reason, finding a loud, obnoxious 6'3'' tanned Japanese young adult in a mansion full of thousands of rooms was more difficult than Kuroko imagined. Especially when said person was usually lazy as hell and enjoyed to sleep all day.

He had no idea where to start next. Where the hell could Aomine be this time in the afternoon? As Kuroko began to shift his weight onto his legs to stand up, his phone started to vibrate and he sighed for the third time(but with relief) when he saw that the caller ID.

"Yo Kuroko. Do me a favor and tell Akashi that I won't be going on the modeling trip with Kise." The infamous Aomine that Kuroko had been searching for so desperately decided to grace the smaller male with his voice. But the triumph didn't last for long because Kuroko didn't understand a damn thing that the tanned male had just said.

"What why? You know how much that trip means to him?! He's been wanting to go with you forever! And-"

"Yeah yeah I know but after what happened, I'm not really okay with that right now." Aomine spoke through the phone but the sound was muffled—along with multiple voices and noises going on in the background.

Kuroko was greatly confused.

"Are you kidding? Where are you anyways?! I've been looking for you all day!" He shouted and shot up, stomping his foot on the ground. He was frustrated with Aomine's frantic, deficit attitude and his jump-into-it-head-on plans.

"I'm in line. Jesus Tetsu hold on." Aomine sounded annoyed as he muffled the phone, but the next voice that Kuroko heard was one he would never forget.

"Flight 392 will be leaving for California, USA in 30 minutes. Please prepare for departure."

Was Kuroko hearing things?

Was this actually happening?

The small male finally got the nerve to speak up and put his hand on his forehead.

"...Aomine-kun. Is that what I think it is?" He asked the rhetorical question that he hoped Aomine would prove him wrong about.

But nope, he had let his hopes down.

"I'm fixing the problem head on. I gotta go. I'll call you later." With a swift click, Aomine had ended the phone call and left Kuroko staring emptily in the lounge.

Aomine was going to America.

 _Great_.

* * *

A/N;; HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGRRRRRRRR guys I'm so sorry I'm just PFT GONE WITH THE WIND. Between school, studying, and my job I have not found ANY TIME TO WRITE GOD IDK WHAT IM DOING ANYMORE.

And when I actually did have the time to write, I had such a big writers block that I didn't have the motivation to continue. I've just been so tired and I would look at my draft and be like "mmm nah"

But then I looked at all the reviews again, and I read every single one over again and reminded myself that people do like my story, no matter how bad it seems to be to me; their are actually people(you guys) who wait eagerly for the next chapter and I love you. All of you.

Thank you. Sincerely, thank you.

 **bloodybrain33** : YOU'RE WELCOME hehe. I was glad that it didn't turn out as you expected it to c:

 **EminaRukiax** : TOO LATE I USED HIM AS A SEX TOY OOPS. Haha I had a tough time trying to figure ot how to make them friends again. So I tried to do it through Alex dying. Their bonding again? Did it work? I hope it was believable ;_;

 **Guest** : HEHE DMMD MOD FOR DAYZ. I'm surprised no one else caught that ;).

 **ZeaAoi** : I'm so glad, thank you. Here is your very delayed update.

 **ken aozora** : HERE YOU GO. IM HAPPY THAT YOU LIKE IT I HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO LIKE IT!

 **akira noruma** : hehe here you go love.

 **ChordOverstreetFan** : Ohohohoh I can't reveal any events or the future plot but oooo. Okay here's a one word hint: suspicion.

If you want to send me a message my tumblr is Woirick. I'll respond faster there. And if there's a typo or anything seems out of place please feel free to contact me on my tumblr or here.

-Cryle


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